Ace Tribute: Duel Destinies
by Number One Fan of Journey
Summary: Apollo Justice finds himself fighting for his life in the 21st Hunger Games. Although the competition is rough, he has plenty of tributes on his side. But will they be enough to keep him safe? And can they even be trusted to?
1. In for a Surprise

Author's Note: Hahaha, hey, guys... Who's ready for an actual sequel to _Phoenix Wright: Ace Tribute_? I haven't given up on _Tributes and Tribulations_, but I've been a lot more excited about writing this one, so let's go ahead and give it a shot.

This round, most of the characters come from _Dual Destinies_, so ahead lie spoilers for that as well as for the previous fan fiction installment.

Enjoy!

* * *

><p><em>This isn't the way it should end. Where I am now, I can't hope for much good, but I should have at least kept it from coming to this. I shouldn't have made this happen. I should have stopped myself... from a lot of things.<br>_

_But I can't change course anymore. I lost that option a long while back.  
><em>

_The air in my throat freezes as the knife drives home._

* * *

><p>"You're hogging the mirror, Sleeves!"<p>

I try to elbow the kid away, but I can't jostle him much without dropping my tube of hair gel.

"I'll just be one more second, promise!" I manage to bump him away with my hip.

It's not like this is the only mirror on the boys' side. I have just as much a right to it as anyone else.

I slick a few more layers of gel over my hair spikes and straighten up. I think I'm good now. My tie is straight, my sleeves are even, and... Hot dang, my hair looks good.

"All right, go ahead." Wiping the extra gel on my bare wrist, I duck away from the mirror so the next kid has full access. He doesn't thank me.

I take a deep breath. Okay. Reaping Day. Nothing I can't handle, and nothing I haven't handled before. Okay! I'm ready! Just one more thing...

Ducking around some of the other boys, I make it to the common room and then out the door before anyone even thinks of stopping me. Not that they would have much of a reason to. They've learned it's best for me to be far from the building before I start up.

The usual place is distant enough from the main square to not be a problem. I haven't gotten any complaints outside of the home, though, so I bet I could warm up anywhere. But this is a nice spot. Good acoustics and all that.

A breeze tugs at my shirt as I station myself in the dip in the ground. The hill behind me keeps the morning sun off my back as I clench my fists and inhale.

"I'm Apollo Justice, and I'm fine!"

There's nothing to worry about.

"I'm Apollo Justice, and I'm fine!"

The slips with my name are just a few among many.

"I'm Apollo Justice, and I'm fine!"

All I have to do is stand in the crowd for a while!

"I'm Apollo Justice, and I'm fine!"

I've got this!

I keep it up for a while longer before my throat is sufficiently sore. It's still some time before the reaping, I think, but there's nothing wrong with signing in early. Time to take on the reaping and win!

* * *

><p>I fold my arms as the escort—I still don't know anything more than his nickname—approaches the bowl of boys' names. It's pretty full this year. Most of its contents not my name. So, logically speaking, I shouldn't expect to be reaped.<p>

I still can't help but shiver when his hand rustles the slips. The audience is so quiet... Quiet enough for me to hear paper moving, from here. The other boys' tension is enough to clench my fists, making my bracelet tight for a moment before it adjusts.

But everything's fine. I'm fine. He's drawing a name, but it won't be—

"Apollo Justice!"

Right, it won't be Apollo Justice...

...

"Wh-whaaaaaat?!"

Hold it! Doesn't he always start with, "I declare District 5's male tribute to be"? I didn't just miss it, did I? He went through the same thing with the female tribute a moment ago, I'm sure of it.

"Mr. Justice? Are you ready?" Frowning, the escort looks straight at me.

I... probably shouldn't have shouted.

I have to remind myself to breathe in. "Y-yes, Your Honor!" My voice is so raspy I clear my throat and yell it harder. The sixteens nearest me cringe back, but that just makes it easier to charge toward the stage.

I—I wasn't prepared for this, but I have to act like it. No one's going to take me seriously if I waver now. I'm going up to that stage with as much presence as I can muster.

The escort watches me step up in front of him and gives me a nod. "Are there any volunteers?"

No. There couldn't be any. No one's stupid enough to expect victory, and I don't have any family or close friends. I'm here to stay.

"In that case, I present your tributes for the Twenty-First Annual Hunger Games!"

Hoping my hair isn't wilting too much, I turn to the other tribute. Now's the part where we shake hands, if I remember correctly. You can't watch many of these before you figure out the routine.

She grips the top of her blue shawl with one gloved hand but offers me her other. I take a deep breath and seize it.

"It was... Trucy, wasn't it?" I murmur as I shake.

She nods, wincing a little until I release her hand. "It's—" she closes her eyes for a moment before smiling at me—"nice to meet you, Polly."

I slouch a bit. "Actually, I go by Apollo."

"Come on, kids." Thick fingers dig into my shoulder as a Peacekeeper smelling of gunpowder steps between us. "Get to your final goodbyes."

There's no reason to drag me, but she does, anyway. A different person takes Trucy to her room, and I'm led to one on the left side of the building.

The Justice Building. Its front steps are where my housemother found me, apparently. It would be cooler if my surname were hereditary, but I'll take it as is.

Seated on the edge of the couch with my fists just over my knees, I stare at the ceiling. I didn't think I'd be coming back to this place under these circumstances. I mean, there was always a chance. I take tessarae every year, just like all the other orphans, and I'm no longer twelve. Those slips do add up, I guess... Add up to this.

I... I'm in an impossible situation. But I can't let it get to me. My only option now is to charge ahead. I'm going to dig in my heels, stand tall, and—and somehow survive. I haven't been in any serious fights, and I don't know any survival skills, but that'll be the same for most of the other tributes.

As far as the competition goes... I mean, I'm not going to _murder_ anybody. I'm not sure that anyone's gotten out of the Games otherwise, but I haven't studied all of the victors. I can't say it's impossible when I don't know all of the facts.

Right. I have a chance. I can handle this. I swear I can handle this...

I still catch my hands shaking when I'm moved to the train.

The escort pulls up the lead, trying to reprimand the crowd into order. At my right side, Trucy waves at the cameras with one hand and tips her bright blue top hat with the other. I probably look like a dull-eyed zombie next to her, so I make an effort to smile at the cameras.

The Capitol must be watching this. I'm not sure how much of each reaping they air because I have better things to do in the morning than watch it myself, but there wouldn't be cameras if no one was tuned in.

Just how many people _are_ watching me...?

W-well, it doesn't matter! I'm going to put on a good face for all of them!

Here comes Justice!

* * *

><p>I manage to calm down by dinnertime. I've also managed to tear my throat up badly enough that I'm offered chamomile tea the first time I try to speak.<p>

I sip at the cup until our mentor arrives. She glances at the nameplates before taking her seat at the head of the table, across from the escort and at my right.

"Hello." She smiles at me as a waiter lays her napkin across her lap. "Are you doing all right?"

I swallow before rasping an inhale. "I'm fine."

She covers her mouth. "So I've heard."

Laughing silently, I sense a flash of motion at the door. Trucy. I give her a nod before turning back to our mentor.

"Ms. Maya Fey, right?" I have to wash my throat in tea again before I can continue. "You were in the same Games as Phoenix Wright."

She starts before clapping her hands together. "Yes, that's right! Did... Did you know Nick?" She squints at me.

"No, not personally. I'm... a fan, I guess?" Shoulders hunched, I slick my bangs back until they pop out from under my hand. "I was really young when his Games aired. At the time I honestly just liked his hair. But I've given more thought to it since then, and he really was a great person. Not only did he try to save lives, but he also tried to save people from their own guilt and fear." I rest one wrist on the table. "It must have been great to stay by his side, even for a while."

Her clasped hands pressed back against her necklace, she smiles more. "It was. It really was." She takes a minute before wiping her cheek dry and taking a deep breath.

"That's enough of that for now, though." She rests her hands in her lap as the waiters come around with the dishes. "I'm here to help _you_ now. What about your own Games?"

I eye the little bowl of soup in front of me, wondering why they had to waste a plate with it as well. I don't dare start it until our escort, and then Maya, dip up their own bites.

"Well," says Trucy as I locate the widest spoon, "what about it? We're... going into it, I guess, but we don't know much beyond that." She taps her bottom lip with one finger. "Right, Polly?"

Maya swallows quickly. "Oh! Do your friends call you Polly?"

I thump my fists onto the table. "No, they don't!" I'm not sure if any part of the home has reached a consensus on what to call me, but it isn't that. "I don't do nicknames."

Blinking, Maya draws back. "Okay. Apollo it is."

I let out a breath. "Thanks."

Maya stirs her soup idly as she leans on her other hand. "Are you both going to try to win?"

"Of course." Looking down, I press a finger to my forehead. "It's life or death. I wouldn't want to lose something like that."

Trucy nods, her hands fisted in front of her. "I'll try my hardest, too."

"Okay." After another sip of soup, our mentor nods. "So, what do you want to focus on during training? Is there anything useful you've already mastered?"

I can't think of anything off the bat, and I'm not sure if I can talk much more, anyway. This soup is spicy and warm, though. Maybe it'll help.

"I'm good at performing magic." Trucy bounces in her chair a little.

"Oh, cool!" Maya claps before seeming to will herself to calm down. "Can you show us something?"

"Sure!" She thinks for a moment before pulling something pink and blue from her pocket and unfolding it.

Is that... Are those... panties?

"1, 2, 3!" She points out the numbers before reaching into her, er, prop and pulling out a fork.

"Oh my!" The escort draws back.

Smiling, Trucy thanks Maya for her applause and then waves the utensil at me. "Here you go, Polly!"

"Wh-what?" I pull back a bit.

"Well, it's yours."

Huh?

I glance at my small army of silverware and then at Maya's. Sure enough, I'm missing a fork. Did she even reach over here? She must have, at some point...

Although it's mine, I still pinch the handle between two fingers with trepidation. Trucy turns the fork in her hand to make the transfer easier.

"Don't worry. My magic panties are clean enough to eat out of! In fact..." She reaches in again.

Dropping my fork over the tablecloth, I wave an open hand at her. "There's no need for more of that; I get the point, thanks!"

At first, I'm not sure if she could make out my rasping, but she stops and withdraws her empty hand. "Oh. I just thought you'd want your soup back."

"What?!" I snap my gaze back to my plate—but the little bowl of soup is still there. The amount left is the same, and it's definitely mine.

I squint at Trucy, who sticks her tongue out and bops her hat with one fist.

"Tee hee. Just kidding."

Maya sets her spoon in her empty soup bowl with a clack. "That was great! And how about you, Apollo? Got anything like that?"

Nothing remotely like that. And I don't consider this a bad thing.

"I..." Before I can cough, I go for the last of my tea.

"Well..." Trucy leans forward. "He's really good at being loud!"

The escort taps his spoon against his palm. "Indeed."

Maya leans over the table a bit herself. "Pffft. Except right now."

What are we, eight? You're such a great bunch of allies for a game of murder...

Well. I'm sure it could be worse.


	2. A Look at the Crowd

Trucy insists on tagging along when I leave to watch the reapings. There's only one chair in my room, but she's happy enough to sit on the edge of the bed.

"What are we looking for?" She swings her legs, making the bedframe jiggle.

I check the clock—the recaps should start in two minutes—before turning on the television. "We're seeing who we're up against. Who to watch out for, who might make good allies." I glance at her. "You want to be allies, at least, right?"

"Uh-huh."

I fold my arms. "That's all right with me." I don't think pulling woodland creatures out of her hat is a great method of self-defense, but I'm sure she could come in handy. And we're practically meant to ally with out districtmates, the way they pool our donations. She's a little... hyper, but I think I can put up with her. She doesn't strike me as a bad person, at least.

The show comes on with a blare of music over a faded montage of the district symbols. After some chatter from the announcers, the footage from District 1 kicks off the show. The boy has an unnerving skeletal face, but his district partner seems normal, if threatening.

The tributes from 2 have the same last name; according to the commentary, they're siblings. But why on earth would they both volunteer the same year? Even if one won, the other... wouldn't. Do they not think losing a sibling would be terrible? What kind of people are they?

But the recaps continue, and I can't reflect on any one thing for too long.

The next girl charges up all three stairs to the stage in one step. At least, that's what she attempts before her foot hits the wrong surface and she crashes back to the ground. The commentators assure us she wasn't injured.

Neither from 4 seem that big, but I can't really gauge the size of the guy with the baggy clothes he's wearing.

And then there's us.

"Ah!" Trucy jumps, shaking the bedframe more. "My hat is crooked! Why didn't anyone tell me?"

"They were probably more worried about other things."

She shrinks a little. "Yeah..."

I sigh and shut my eyes. My part's up next, and, honestly, I don't even want to look.

Unfortunately, I can still hear myself screaming in confusion. What a first impression. Ugh! Even the hosts are laughing!

"Oh, Polly, look!"

"I'm not opening my eyes until District 6," I growl, crossing my arms tighter.

"Party pooper."

"There are plenty of worse things to be, Trucy."

Finally, the commentators announce the next district, and I resume watching. The male tribute has quite a beard going, although they're bound to shave it off before the Games start. I'm not sure why they never let any stubble into the arena, but I can't really complain.

Next is 7, whose volunteer causes a commotion among the hosts. He's... a little imposing, I guess, but the big deal is his older brother, who won his own Games seven years ago. Needless to say, this guy is going to be a crowd favorite.

The guy from 8 has a wide-shouldered eyesore of an outfit, while the boy from 10 is decked out in all white. I can't say either clothing choice is that appealing, but they're more memorable than mine, unless the Capitol just really likes red.

The guy from 11 is clearly thinking of bolting, while his district partner clings to her knitting needles until the Peacekeepers pry them from her hands. As if they're vulnerable in those thick suits.

No one else stands out that much.

The hosts are wrapping things up now, so I turn the volume down and look to Trucy.

"What do you think?"

"Hmm." She crosses her ankles. "I think I like the pair from 3."

Your first choice is the terrible klutz. All right, then.

"Maybe the two from 7—the guy's awfully cute—and Jinxie from 8 seems nice."

Added to our winning roster are one more likely killer and a girl who has trouble not shaking or hiding her face. Then again, I guess none of us are at our best right after getting reaped.

"And maybe District 11. Sound good to you?"

"Sure," I deadpan. With an exhale, I rub my forehead with one finger. "In all honesty, we should try to take whoever we can get. There's strength in numbers, even if none of us know what we're doing." I slump. "Hopefully _someone_ will, though."

"Okay!" She fists her hands, leaning toward me. "Once we get to the Training Center, I'll recruit as many people as possible!"

"Great." My yawn is silent as I sit up. "I'm kind of stuffed, to tell the truth. Might turn in early tonight."

"That's a good idea." She hops off the bed and straightens her hat. "I'll head back to my room now. Good night, Polly!"

I smile. "Good night."

She slips out and closes the door behind her.

I don't think I'm going to win the nickname battle, but Trucy really isn't all that bad. It might actually be nice to have her with me in the Games if she's going to keep smiling. We could all use a little cheer in a place like that.

But she'll have to be out of the picture if I'm going to make it home alive...

That's... not something to think about now, though. No amount of planning is going to stop inevitable things like that. I'll handle those things when I get to them.

I don't have much of a choice.

* * *

><p>The stylist with bright yellow tattoos sighs. "Are they really necessary?"<p>

"Yes!" It's harder to make a point without anything around to bang my fists on, but I stare her down regardless. "They're extremely necessary!"

She pouts, twisting half a spike's worth of bangs between her fingers. "But they're not even real."

"What do you mean, not real?!" I do my best not to point out her partner's purple hair. Even if I use hair gel, my locks are a lot more real than hers.

The violet-haired girl rests her hands on her hips. "Oh, we can keep them. They give him a unique silhouette if nothing else."

The other girl flips my hair into my face as she lets go. "If that's all we want, I can make a much better design of them."

...I don't think I want a woman with her sense of style redesigning my hair.

"Oh, let's just leave it to the boss. He'll have the final say, anyway."

I'm not sure whether to be relieved or terrified. Whatever the head honcho's decision is, I can't hope to like all of it. Just please don't make me parade around without decent covering. This morning has been bad enough, even with a more private audience. The last thing I want is the rest of the Capitol commenting on how pathetic I look.

The assistants leave my hair down when they leave, and the head stylist doesn't show up for a few minutes. He motions for me to put on some underwear—finally—and spreads the plastic-covered something in his arms across an empty table. He gives me a once-over before turning back to the garment bag thing.

"Good afternoon, Apollo. Are you excited to see your costume?"

"Er, yes." At least it looks big enough to be a full outfit.

The plastic crinkles, but not enough to obscure his voice. "Now, this was short-notice, so it isn't quite as grand as I would like, but once I heard your name, I thought that I simply must adapt my idea appropriately. I'm sure you'll find it excellent."

My name? Justice? Is he going to give me judge robes or something? I feel like that would get pretty warm...

He shuffles the plastic off the outfit, but all I can see from here is the dark bluish tint.

He gets the thing all scrunched up in his hands before he brings it to me and throws it over my head. After a little tugging, I look down to find myself wearing... a dress.

"It's a tunic," the stylist says quickly. "Now, cooperate with me, and we'll get the toga on over it."

It's not covering much for a tunic.

He grabs the rest of the blue stuff and comes back.

"Of course, I still had to tie it to your district specialty. I think the little solar panels make for an interesting texture, don't you?"

"Yeah." Not something I would have come up with. I can't say it looks bad, though. I'm just not used to wearing this kind of stuff. Especially without pants...

He sets up the matching toga and walks me over to a chair. I'm relieved to sit down until I realize I'm next to a large display of makeup.

...I give up. Just keep compromising my masculinity. I didn't need it for anything, anyway.

* * *

><p>In the end, he at least lets me out with my hair styled appropriately. It was a mess to get it into spikes with the laurel in the way, but everything seems intact, and I'm ready to get this chariot ride over with.<p>

"This is so exciting!" Trucy tilts onto her tiptoes and back. "There's gonna be a huge crowd—and look at everybody's costumes!"

I'm not sure why either of those things is thrilling, but I nod. The chariots get lined up—I'll have to be careful not to lose my balance—and we head out once the door is open and the anthem is playing.

As we enter the open air, the smell of the horses fades. The crowds on both sides shout and laugh. Some are waving, but the conglomeration of outfits is too bright to look at for long. The guy from 8 must love this place.

There's not much else to watch but the huge television screens, so I gaze at them. They feature District 3 at the moment. Their colors don't match, but they're both in jointed, armor-like costumes that must be robot-themed. I can't focus on the details much when the girl draws my attention. Hunching, she keeps a nervous smile on her face, but her hands keep flying to her ears no matter how hard she tries to stop them.

District 4 seems to be some sort of swimsuit pirate theme. They guy's actually bigger than I thought... A lot bigger. Gulp...

And then there's us. Trucy's decked out in blue, too, although it's a lot brighter than mine. All to match her top hat, I guess.

You know, despite the whole dress thing, I really don't look bad in this.

But the camera feed changes, and I disappear from the screen. Did we get less time up there than District 4? I feel like we did. Great. Showing favoritism already, you guys? Not cool.

By the time I'm paying attention again, we've moved on to 7. Instead of facing ahead like a normal person, the boy stretches across the width of the chariot, his shoulders and arms resting along the right side of the handle. He's also shirtless for no apparent reason, unless the chains stenciled onto his arms are really that relevant to the lumber industry. The girl, in some sort of wood saw motif dress, squishes herself against the other side of the chariot and grumbles.

The more high-pitched voices of the crowd quiet a bit as the screen goes to District 8. I don't get a good look at those costumes because I'd rather not go blind.

District 9 is onscreen until we pull up to the City Circle. Time for the president's welcome speech.

A welcome to the Hunger Games. I suppose it's sort of a nice gesture. Everything to come is a nice gesture until they dump us in the arena to kill each other.

Smile, be cordial, then tear all of us to shreds. Reminds me of a certain victor from 7.

At least our mentor isn't like that. She understands that we don't want to be killers. That maybe, just maybe, we don't have to be.


	3. A Few Introductions

It's hard to drag myself out of the soft, soft Training Center bed, but I manage to get up and ready in time for breakfast.

"The thing is," Maya manages to get out without spitting any pancake, "you have to study your survival skills and make friends in the same span of time. You can still ally with people once you run into them in the arena, but it's better to know them beforehand. Makes training more fun, too."

"That makes sense to me." I try to stop shoving my food down too fast. Normally that's not much of a problem, but the quality of Capitol food changes things. "Are there any tributes in particular you think we should look into?"

"Hmm." She leans her cheek on her hand. "It's hard to say this soon. Try to interact with a lot of people today, and then tell me what you think."

"Yes, ma'am!" Trucy twirls her knife in her hand before splitting the last bit of her ham in two.

We manage to spend the rest of the meal just eating, and then it's time to go downstairs.

The elevator doors close as I glance over Trucy. "Are you going to keep wearing all of that until the arena?"

She rises on the balls of her feet a few times, her shawl-cape floating just behind the rest of her. "I don't see why not. It's harder to tell I'm a magician if I'm not wearing any of my costume."

"I think just the hat would do."

She adjusts her gloves and smiles. "Yeah, that's what I'll be bringing to the arena."

We make it to the bottom floor after a few stops and follow the other tributes out. Everyone gathers, I have my district number pinned to my back, and then we're given a speech on the use of the facilities. And now we're free to go wherever we want.

I've only just approached the rows of stands when Trucy exclaims.

"Look! Throwing knives!"

Suddenly my arm is being yanked ahead, and I hurry to stumble after my district partner before she can drag me outright. I don't quite shake off the flustered feeling by the time we come to a stop, but at least I'm not panting.

"Ah, welcome!" the worker says, stepping aside to give us a clear view of the rows of knives. "Are you beginners?"

I sweat. He realizes we're not Careers, right? "Of course—"

"Nope!" Trucy hops over to the stand and starts plucking handles. Stepping to the farthest mark away from the first target, she breathes out and hurls a blade. It sticks in the upper right of the fourth ring.

Maybe she just wanted to skip the lesson and jump into things. I could see her doing that, even if this is inherently dangerous. I'm not even sure that the hazard level registers with her.

She throws the second knife, this time farther to the left. It's pretty much right in line with the first one. She has a tendency to aim high, huh? I wonder if that's a common problem.

The next knife sticks right in the bull's-eye.

I jump, ready to congratulate her, but she seems unfazed.

_Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump._

Now I just stare.

She spins on her foot to face me and spreads her arms out. "Ta-da! How's that?"

"You..." I wipe the sweat off my forehead. "...made a smiley face?"

"Yup! Maybe not the coolest trick, but... Ooh! Okay, Polly! Go stand in front of the next target!"

"What?!" I draw back. A few other tributes are hanging around now, and I don't even want to be in this general area when they try their hands at throwing.

Trucy puts her hands on her hips and pouts. "Well, it'd be a lot harder to outline you in knives if you weren't in front of the target." She folds her arms, looking off at the ceiling. "Although it still wouldn't be the same if it's only around your head and shoulders. All right, here. Stand over there and jump when I say so. I'm sure I can pin your sleeves to the target, and then I'll be able to go all around from there."

"No!"

She goes back to pouting.

"I-I'm pretty sure that's against the rules, anyway," I say quickly, nodding at the worker.

He falters before sighing. "Yeah, we have enough accidents here without that kind of risk. I bet people'd love to see it in the Games, though!"

"Good idea!" Trucy gives him a toothy smile.

I step back. "You'll have to find a different volunteer if you want to try that, I'll tell you right now."

"How about me?"

Turning, I see the boy with the sports visor and a bandage across his nose. He strides a little closer with a confident smile.

"It sounds fun, and it sure looks like I could trust your accuracy." He points a thumb to his chest. "Clay Terran, District 3."

Trucy shakes his hand. "Trucy Enigmar, District 5."

He turns to me.

"Apollo Justice, also District 5."

He gives my hand two firm shakes before letting go. "Nice to meet you both."

"You, too!" Trucy responds before I can get a word in. I just nod.

He relaxes, arms at his sides. "Any chance you could give me a lesson?"

"You know, that's actually my _job_," calls the instructor, who's handing one knife to the girl from 9.

"True." Clay glances between me and my district partner. "I'm sure you have better things to do, anyway. See you around?" He points his feet toward the instructor but doesn't move away from us yet.

"Sure." I step aside to give him room. "Nice meeting you." Not much more than a first impression, but I guess it is about time I got around to training.

"Yeah." Trucy tilts the brim of her hat down. "Be sure to at least join us for lunch, okay?"

He laughs. "Sure thing. Would you mind if my district partner happened to follow me to the table?"

"That would be great! The more the merrier."

"Uh, yeah." District 3 was that klutz girl, right? Oh, boy.

Although I really can't dismiss her entirely. I'm sure she has just as much to offer as me. Hopefully.

We part ways with Clay to head for the shelter-building station.

"Let me guess," I say as Trucy leads me there. "You can pull a pitched tent out of your hat?"

Her hand flies to her mouth. "Goodness! That wouldn't fit in there! I bet I could pull one out of my magic panties, though!"

"Gack!" I just manage not to clamp my hand over her mouth. "Trucy, we're in public! Quit saying 'panties'!"

"My, what conversation am I missing here?"

"Gah!" Flinching back, I almost ram into the other tribute before I locate him. Standing next to us with his thumbs tucked under his waistband is Mister District 7 himself. Light glints off his huge, pointed necklace, and his hands shine with rings. From this short distance, it's a lot easier to see the resemblance between him and Kristoph. His hair is short, and he dons sunglasses instead of clear lenses, but I can still tell they're brothers.

So this is the little sibling of Kristoph Gavin. He looks friendly enough, but that's meaningless. If anything, it's a family trait, and that only makes it more likely he shares the venomous killer trait, too.

"I must say I'm used to being inspected by the ladies, but this is the first time I've felt this way with a man."

"Eh?" I snap back to focus to find myself still staring at him.

He lowers his sunglasses and smiles at Trucy. "Ah, Fräulein. It's terrible to see a sweet morsel like you in such a dismal place. Can I help?"

"O-oh." She grasps her hands behind her back. "We're heading to the shelter station, is all."

"It's just a shot away," he says with that same smile before inviting us to follow him.

Do we have to…? Well, we should start practicing something. If one tribute is all it takes to scare me away from a stand, we'll have slimmer pickings than we can afford. I guess he can't try anything while we're still in the safety of the Training Center, either. And whether or not that smile is a facade...

I don't want to make an enemy of him.

He at least has the sense to work on a separate project, although he can't seem to help checking in on our tent every once in a while. Trucy and I are capable of doing this ourselves, you know. Not that you're not helping, but... you don't need to be!

By lunchtime, it looks like both our sides have a decent idea of what we're doing. The instructor dismisses the three of us right after the buffet announcement is made, and I distance myself from the stand while Klavier is still setting down his rope and other supplies.

"So?" Trucy starts quietly, coming to a stop in the middle of the aisle. "Do you want to invite him into an alliance?" One hand to her cheek, she gazes into the distance. "I wouldn't mind. He's like... a prince."

"What?" I snap a glance back to find him leaving the stand. I make an effort to keep my voice down. "The important thing isn't whether or not you like him; it's whether or not you can trust him. I may not know him personally, but I know a lot about his brother, not to mention the fact that he threw himself into the Games voluntarily. Can you be sure he's not already planning to kill us?"

She pulls back a little. "Well..."

By now, Klavier is right behind us, so I shake my head at her. She pauses before sidestepping me and eyeing the other tribute.

"Klavier," she says, her hands fisted, "can I ask you one thing?"

Hands on his hips, he leans in with a smile. "Anything for a wonderful Fräulein."

I think to stop her, but it doesn't sound like she's inviting him to an alliance. She can be a trickster, though... Well, I can always reject him from an alliance myself if I have to.

Trucy holds his gaze. "Why did you volunteer?"

Straightening up, he glances to his side. His smile seems frozen as he toys with his bangs, but he turns back to Trucy with a more genuine twist of the lips.

"Because I want to be a star."

Trucy's eyebrows pull together for a second, but she doesn't comment before Klavier bids us goodbye. I breathe out and give her a tap on the shoulder. "Come on. Let's get to the lunch line before it's too long."

She nods, stepping with me, although her eyes are still distant. "Maybe we can ask him again later..."

I watch her. "You think he was lying?"

"Didn't you think so?" She folds her arms. "I wonder why he wouldn't want to tell us, though."

"Are you sure you want to know? He might just not be giving us the whole truth." I push my finger against my forehead. "And it's a lot easier to be a star as a victor than just a tribute."

"That's true." She sighs. "I guess we'll find out later."

"Yeah. For now, let's just worry about lunch and a couple of friendlier tributes."

So we'll at least be eating with Clay and his district partner... I don't remember her name. She had a long ponytail, though.

Actually—is that her up ahead? She seems kind of upset with that guard staring her down. What's going on?

I don't have to draw that much closer to hear her.

"No! I'm not smuggling _anything_! What's the point of trying to stab somebody at lunch, anyway?"

The man takes a step into what is clearly her personal space. "I'm going to have to pat you down to be sure."

Inches away from punching him, she snarls. "What are you talking about? You didn't pat anybody else down! How am I the only suspicious one?"

He seizes one of her arms and starts frisking at her armpit.

"_Get your hands off me!_" Wrenching her arm out of his grip, she grabs his arm and twists while lowering herself. With a loud grunt, she thrusts herself back up, and I don't realize she's sent the guard flying until it's too late to dodge.

"Aah!" His shin smacks across my stomach, forcing me to crash backwards onto the ground with him. My spine hits the floor hard, and a second passes before I'm aware enough to realize I can't breathe.

"Oh my gosh!" The District 3 girl speeds over here. "I'm so sorry—it was just a reflex. Are you okay?!"

A-a reflex? Maybe you could get away with that one if you just slapped him.

"Fine," I manage after a second. "I'm fine."

Trucy helps me sit up as the other tribute awkwardly steps to the guard and offers a hand. He takes it and yanks her, yelping, to the ground with him.

"Someone's getting a time-out," he says, voice low.

"B-but I didn't mean to!"

He hauls himself to his feet, dragging her with him and securing her arms behind her back.

"I haven't even had lunch yet!"

He pushes her along in front of him. "Oh, maybe there'll still be something left when you're done."

"Nngh..."

"Um—" I reach towards her, although I'm not getting any closer with the guard there—"I could save you a plate."

"Really?" She jumps a little, and the guard clamps down harder on her arms. She shoots him a glare before grinning at me. "Thank you!"

I fold my arms, trying to ignore the ache below my diaphragm. "No problem."

"Well, we'd better hurry to the lunch area, then!" Trucy leans toward me before pulling back. "You are okay, though, right?"

I stifle a cough. "Yeah. Let's go."


	4. Sight and Sound

I'm not sure whether I'm supposed to be eating more meat or bread or vegetables in a situation like this, so I load everything onto my plate. Setting up tents and suspended sleeping bags has given me a decent appetite, so I'm sure I can handle it.

The District 3 girl doesn't get quite as much, mostly because I don't want to drop anything.

Holding the loaded plates close so my arms won't tire, I try to keep my drink from sloshing out as I grip the rim between two fingers.

"Apollo! Trucy!"

At the second-closest table to the buffet, Clay stands on top of the bench waving an arm. The table rattles, but not enough to move his plate.

He sits down once he's sure we've found him, and I sit at his right. Trucy stays at my other side.

Setting the plates down, I turn to him. "Is she going to sit next to you or across form you? Your district partner, I mean."

"Oh? Across, probably." He leans back a bit, his hands behind his head. "What happened with her?"

I slide her plate over and sit up. "She threw a guard at me."

Clay's eyes widen. "Geez! What did you do to her?"

"N-nothing!" I grab my fork. "She was mad at the other guy, not me."

He laughs. "Ah, okay." He slides his knife across a piece of fish. "So how did your morning go, apart from being a ballistics target?"

"All right, I guess." I take a few drinks from my cup. "The shelter stand would have been better alone, but—"

"What?" Trucy gasps, her hand flying to her mouth.

I snap my gaze to her. "No, no, I meant without that District 7 guy. You're fine."

She sighs in relief. "Okay. But wait! He did help us, you know."

"Yeah..." I chomp on a hunk of potato. The sauce is tangier than I expected, but it's far from bad. I'll take this over our finest tesserae bread any day.

"Hey. You." The girl's voice is quiet but sharp.

No one is in front of me yet, so I turn to see a tribute with long, brown hair standing behind Trucy and me. She's frowning pretty hard, but I can't tell which of us she's upset with.

"Can you hide me for a second?"

"Hide you? Like, make you disappear?" Trucy fists her hands. "Is there already a stage set up, or do I need to bring my own stuff? I had to leave most of my things at home, of course, but I'm a professional magician. I can work around it."

The other tribute narrows her eyes. "Just let me sit between you and Mr. D5 for a minute, okay?"

I can see the disappointment in Trucy's eyes. "Okay?" She scoots over, sliding her plate and drink along with her.

The brunette sits between us, sets her plate some distance in front of her, and puts her head down on the table. She pauses, whips the red-tinted sunglasses off the top of her head, and puts her hands in her lap.

Her hair is long enough to cover the 7 on her back, but it's splayed out thin now. Trucy pulls it all over the number and gets a grunt of thanks for her efforts.

I exchange a glance with my district partner, then Clay, but neither seems to have any idea of what's going on. Slowly, I resume my meal, and the other two follow suit.

I've finished my first roll before Klavier walks by, the girl from 10 trailing him. He pauses at our table and smiles down at us.

"You wouldn't happen to know where my district partner is, would you?"

I'm certain he's onto us. I shake my head, anyway.

"Maybe she went to the bathroom?" Clay tries.

"Well, I won't be able to check there." Klavier snaps a few times. "I'll just sit down, and if Fräulein Scientist sees fit to join me, she may." He chuckles before moving on to the next table.

It's another minute before "Fräulein Scientist" resurfaces. With a sputtering sigh, she checks the other table and puts her lenses back on. Rubbing her forehead, she mutters, "Well, it kind of worked. Maybe he can at least go an hour without bugging me. Maybe." She grabs some kind of dark breadstick on her plate and starts chewing.

"Not too fond of him?" Clay starts, food obstructing his words.

She only pauses in her munching for a second. "No." She finishes another one before sighing and standing up. "Sorry for barging in. You can go back to your own business now."

I scoot enough to let her out, but Clay holds out an arm to bar her from going much farther.

"We're only saving one seat. You're welcome to stay at our table."

She twists a lock of her hair before letting her arm drop. "All right, sure."

Pulling his hand back, Clay squishes against the table as she goes around him. "Any particular reason he calls you a scientist?"

She sets her plate and cup down and folds her arms, smirking. "Because I _am_ a scientist. Still in training, albeit."

"Oh, cool!" Clay fists one hand. "I study some astronomy myself."

"Yeah?" She sits down and stabs at her salad. "I prefer forensics, but I won't complain at finding another member of the scientific community." She adjusts her glasses and smiles. "So how much do you know about astronomy?"

The two of them get into a discussion of stars and nuclear fusion before they lose me completely. We're more interested in fission in District 5... And even then, the schools don't go into as much depth as they could. Just enough to make sure we don't blow anything up with our one and only nuclear-based plant.

I glance at Trucy sideways. "Did she ever give us her name?"

Trucy folds her arms and looks up. "Wasn't it Ema?"

"Must be."

I get through two-thirds of my plate before losing momentum. On one hand, I don't want to be tired and nauseous for the second half of training. On the other, I should probably put on a little buffer weight for the Games, and this is delicious. I'm sure I can keep going.

Taking a deep breath, I look around the other tables. Several other tributes, mostly female, are at the same table as Klavier. He's predominantly interested in conversing with the wavy-haired girl from 6. She doesn't seem particularly concerned about talking to a Gavin.

At the table closest to the buffet line, the pair from 11 sit across from each other. I can't see many tributes beyond them, especially when the girl has her wide-brimmed hat on.

"Naw, man!" her district partner says hoarsely. "He's a great choice! Lot less competition, too!"

The girl grips her fingers. "W-well—" her voice is a lot harder to hear—"I don't really know him; I just think he's handsome..."

"I can call him over here right now! And if he's not good enough, I can fight him off LIKE A MAN!"

"What?" gasps his district partner. "No! Don't tell him anything!"

My view is suddenly blocked by a passing figure, and it only takes one flick of the ponytail to tell me it's the girl from 3. She hurries between the tables around to the plate across from Clay.

"Hey!" Setting down a cup of water and a plate with all of one orange on it, she presses her palms against the table.

"Hey!" Trucy echoes.

"Ah, Athena." Clay turns away from Ema for a minute. "Made it out unscathed?"

Hands on her hips, she grins. "Yeah, pretty much." She swings her legs over the bench and smiles at me. "Thanks a ton for saving me some food. The table was down to some pretty poor pickings. No orange juice left, either." She nibbles on a plain roll experimentally.

"No problem." I slouch. "Try to be more careful the next time you throw guards around, all right?"

She chortles. "Yeah. Sorry about that."

"I'm fine now." I glance at Clay to find him eating his dessert and chatting with Ema again. I'm not interrupting him too much, I guess. "So, it's Athena?"

"Yup. Athena Cykes." She swallows a bit of stewed chicken. "Apollo and... Tracy?"

"Trucy." She's still smiling. I guess she gets that a lot.

"Ah, all right. Nice to meet you both!"

"You, too." I try to get in a few more bites, but it's not happening. Instead I lean back, throwing my napkin and forearms to the table in defeat. "You certainly left a unique first impression on me, though."

"Ha!" She flashes a peace sign. "You just get to see me as a warrior from the start!"

I sip some water. "A warrior that trips on the stairs."

She coughs on her carrots, which is a miracle when they're that tiny. After downing some of her own drink, she grimaces and slumps with her arms on the table. "What a great way to introduce myself to Panem, huh?" She wipes some sweat off her forehead and sighs.

Trucy leans forward. "At least it was memorable! And you got to prove right from the start you could pick yourself up after a downfall!"

With more of a smile, Athena tosses her roll to her gloved hand. "Good point." She snickers, glancing back at me. "In that case, I did a lot better than you. I've already heard other guys calling you 'The Surprised Boy.' "

I can feel my hair spikes going limp. "Are you serious?"

Trucy taps her lip. "I think I've heard that, too."

Ugh... It's going to be hard to rebuild an image after that. Especially when I seem to be surrounded by pretty surprising people.

"Don't worry!" Trucy smiles at me. "You looked great in the chariot ride! I'm sure people will remember your name the right way because of that."

I let out a breath. "Thanks."

Speaking of the chariot rides...

"Athena? I'm just curious, but... Were you doing all right during the chariot rides? You seemed like you were in pain."

"Oh?" She pulls back, eyes wide. "No, I..." She settles down, stacking some green beans onto her fork. "The crowd was just kind of loud."

Frowning a little, Trucy watches her chew. ""Really? It didn't seem that loud to me. There's a little bit of distance between the chariots and the audience, after all."

Athena swallows. "There were still tons of people shouting. It was loud enough to make _my_ ears hurt, at least."

Trucy stares at her for another minute before tugging on my sleeve. Grabbing the table for balance, I turn my head towards her.

"What?"

"Polly," she whispers. "Don't you think it's strange that she keeps touching her neck?"

"What?" I glance at Athena, but she has one hand on the table and one around a fork.

"Okay, here." Trucy pauses to make sure she has my attention. "This time, you ask her. And focus."

I give her a look, but I can feel Athena watching me.

"You guys?" She takes a gulp of water before frowning. "Is there something you'd like to tell the rest of the class?"

"Oh, uh—" I push my bangs back and rub my scalp for a second. "Actually..."

I can't deny that Trucy's being a little strange. But now that she mentions it... I may have noticed something, when Athena said it was just loud. Maybe it is a little weird to pursue, but I'm already The Surprised Boy. What have I got to lose?

Pressing my finger to my forehead, I watch Athena. "Weren't you wearing a bit of headgear, too? I feel like it would be hard to hear the spectators through that, especially enough to hurt your ears."

"For goodness' sake!" She fists her hands, bringing her elbows back a little. "What's the big deal? So the crowd's a _little L_·_O_·_U·__D_—"

What's this weird vibe I'm getting?! All at the same time, my bracelet throbs, my peripheral vision goes into a haze, and I'm only focusing on Athena's face.

...Touching her neck, was it?

Breath caught in my throat, I slide my gaze to her neck with some effort.

Whoa! What's going on? This sensation... it's coming into focus. There! That twitch! It's so clear! She's touching her neck—no, actually...

Gotcha!

"—is it really that important?" she finishes.

"Right. On another subject..." I rest my bracelet hand on the table. "What's that necklace you're wearing?"

"Oh?" She smiles. "This is Widget. He can read my emotions and change color according to them. He can even blurt out what I'm really thinking." She makes a face. "Which can be a problem from time to time."

"Read your emotions?" I press on my forehead. "How does it do that?"

She goes back to smiling. Ready to brag, I guess. "The programming is pretty complicated, but, basically, he analyzes the tone of my voice."

_"Impressive, right?"_ buzzes a high-pitched voice that must be Widget's.

Voice... Hearing...

Aha!

"Athena." I look her in the eye. "You have a similar ability, don't you?"

"What?!" Her hands fly to the sides of her face. "I..."

"You touched your necklace every time you mentioned how loud the crowd was. Subconsciously, you were thinking of Widget and how he detects emotions through sounds when you mentioned the reason your ears hurt. It wasn't because the onlookers were noisy. It was because they were so excited. So many of them, with so much emotion in all of their voices—that's what made you want to cover your ears!"

She stays frozen for a minute before letting her arms drop. My vision goes back to normal, although I still blink a few times to be sure I haven't changed it permanently.

What... _was_ that?

"You..." Athena grips her elbow, looking down. "You're right. I'm not even comfortable being around twenty-four tributes. The chariot ride... It was so overwhelming I..."

Clay grips the inside edge of the bench. "She fainted for a little bit. Thankfully, our costumes were really stiff, and she came back to during the president's speech. I barely had to support her."

Athena smiles. "Thanks again for that. I've left enough bad impressions already."

He gives her a thumbs-up. "No problem. I'm glad I could help."

Athena nods at him before turning back to Trucy and me. "It might not be the easiest to manipulate in the arena, but it's still a weakness. Don't tell the others, okay?" She slumps, nearly sliding onto the table face-first. "That is, if anyone didn't hear you shouting just now."

"Oh." Flushing, I hunch my shoulders. "Sorry. I kind of got overexcited..."

Clay sighs a bit too loudly to be serious and pats me on the back.

"We won't tell anyone." Ema plays with her hair, some of which has become a loose bun while I wasn't watching. "Your confession sounds a little sketchy, scientifically speaking... But I have no need to spread rumors either way."

"My lips are sealed, too!" Trucy tips her hat, apparently "shaking on it" in her own way.

Grinning, Athena puts her hands on her hips. "Thanks, guys."


	5. In the Distance

The rock climbing instructor rubs her right eye every time she mentions a clove hitch. It only takes a few brief questions to find out that she tied it incorrectly on one expedition. The rope slipped and snapped around hard enough to blind her in one eye. She's had it replaced, along with several other organs damaged by the fall, but she still gets a twinge meeting her own gaze in the mirror. Something is a little off about that eye, now that I'm looking for it.

The first-aid instructor, who keeps straightening his wig, is still hoping to ditch this job to become a stylist. The man at the fire-making stand is having some trouble with his girlfriend.

It's so strange... They're nothing but little twitches, but they aren't random. They mean something. And with a little logic, it's not that hard to piece it all together.

The hardest part is spotting the tics, but today, all of a sudden, I know when to look for them. My bracelet... I always thought it was just some memento from my mother, some sort of sign that she did care about me, even if she wasn't able to care for me. It may still be that, but there's something more to it after all. I'm not sure how, but it always tightens a little when someone's lying, when they're hiding something. And then it's just a matter of focusing and analyzing.

This kind of perception... it's neat, but it's awfully distracting when I'm trying to learn survival skills. I won't complain since it may have some sort of use in the arena, but it's hard to sit through a lecture when the guy is making it _so obvious_ he's hiding something. Luckily, most of the training is hands-on, so I'm not at a terrible disadvantage. Maybe this will get easier to handle as time goes on.

I try to coax a fire into life about four more times before putting the flint and steel wool down.

"Trucy?"

She blows at her tinder until the spark flickers out. With a huff, she sits up and turns to me. "Yes?"

"When it comes to Athena touching her necklace... Do you notice that sort of thing a lot?"

She folds her arms, kicking a stray piece of wood onto her pile. "I guess. It's a lot easier to pick up on tells when you know when the person is going to lie." Smiling, she clasps her hands behind her back. It's hard to tell with the gloves, but I don't think she has a similar bracelet. "It looks like you're already better than me at picking them out."

"Um, thanks."

She glowers at her fire pit. "Although you don't seem any better than me at this."

Sighing, I pick up the tools. "He said our technique was fine. It's just hard to get a fire going sometimes."

"Yeah... We can try for a little longer." She lets out a breath and grumbles something about flash paper before giving the fire another try.

* * *

><p>The other tributes seem focused on training for the rest of the afternoon; I can overhear a few of them chatting from time to time, but Districts 3 and 7 both see fit to leave us alone today. I have no objections. Like Maya said, we need to forge alliances, but we need to learn on our own as well. I have two more days to do both.<p>

Once the gymnasium closes, I have time to wash off and put on fresh clothes before dinner. Just me, Trucy, Maya, and the escort. So, slightly more peaceful than lunch. I'm still pretty full—maybe I should have tried at least one fighting station this afternoon—but I do my best to eat what's in front of me.

I manage to stay awake long enough afterwards to think of working out. I don't know if so little on such short notice is going to do me any good, but there's not much else to do besides look out at the city. It's so crowded and flat, I can't see any spots that would be good for Chords of Steel.

Speaking of which, these rooms aren't as soundproof as I had first believed. There has to be somewhere I can do my morning warm-ups without waking my district partner.

I slip back into the sitting room to ask Maya, but the only one there now is the escort. Then again, I'm sure he knows this building as well as anyone else.

"Um, Your Honor, sir?" I walk past the side of the television.

With a jolt, he blinks his eyes open and throws his gaze around the room until he sees me.

"Oh. Mr. Justice." His face returns to its usual stern look. "Is there something I can help you with?"

I step up next to him but don't take a seat. "Yes, actually. Are these the only rooms tributes have access to? It would be great to find a more private place for my vocal workouts in the morning."

"Goodness, yes!" He draws his arms back, and I start to think my immediate neighbor wasn't the only one I woke up early this morning. "If all of that shouting is really necessary, you can try the roof. The elevator used to go up there, but now I believe we must take the stairs."

"Huh. Why is that?"

"I... I'm not sure." He frowns. I feel like he may have known at one point but has long since forgotten.

"All right." I nod. "Thank you. I'll go check it out now."

"Very well. Be careful going up all those stairs."

"Yes, Your Honor."

The stairway door is on the same wall as the elevator. Since every district has a corresponding floor, I guess I'll be going up eight flights or more. Well, I wanted a workout.

I charge up at a steady pace and come to a stop when the stairs end. The door in front of me reads "Floor 13." Is the roof right above District 12's floor, or do I have to find another stairway? I didn't get a good look at the building while I was outside. But I'm sure if this were somewhere I'm not supposed to be, I wouldn't have made it here so easily.

I pull the door open and step into the cool air. Something chimes in the distance, probably from the breeze. As I walk out, the fields of light in the distance give way to clusters and eventually dot after dot of lamps, cars, and buildings far below. Seems like a nice enough place.

The wind carries a flowery smell my way before I shut the door and venture out further. The tower we're staying in must be straight; this space seems about the same as that of our floor. Make sense. District 12 seems to be cheated out of a lot of things, but there's no reason to give them smaller rooms, too.

As I approach the far railing, I hear a sniffle. Sure, the smell of flowers is a little strong, but I don't think that was me just now. Hmm.

I make it to a wide stand full of wind chimes before a silhouette presents itself. Seated, back against one of the vine-shaped metal supports, is someone with messy hair and... a visor.

"Clay...?"

He stiffens but looks up at me when I step closer. Wiping at his eyes, he chokes for a second. "Hey."

"Hey." I waver before sitting down next to him. "Are... you okay?"

He pulls his jacket more tightly around him. "I d-don't... want to die..."

"Oh..." Wincing, I fold my arms.

He tilts his chin up until he's staring out at the sky. "I want to be an astronaut, a-a real one. Maybe I'm just a District kid, but I've been working hard, studying my stuff. I know the Capitol's planning to send out a few shuttles. Maybe I'd only be support crew, maybe the rest of Panem would never know m-my name, but I always knew I'd have a chance to go out among the stars if I tried hard enough." He sobs. "But this—!" He slams a hand onto the rooftop. "This was never supposed to happen! I don't want to kill anyone, I don't want to die, I—I just want to go out there... I want to be closer to the stars, I want to see them from the moon! But just look!" His voice breaks harder. "With all this light, the sky's already faded...! _They're already taking the stars away from me!_"

Smearing his tears across his cheeks, he curses quietly.

I swallow, gazing out at the stars. It's true. There are a lot fewer of them out here than at home.

I want to tell him that it'll be okay. I want to tell him that he has a chance, that this is just one more obstacle to overcome before he finds some Capitol rocket and blasts off.

But I can't say anything like that. If that's what really happens, it's over my dead body. I can't give up on myself, either, Clay. You understand that, right...? I don't want to die, either, Clay.

We're both in the same boat. In the end, we won't be able to save each other. We may not even be able to save ourselves. But right now, we're both here, we're both afraid, and there's still something we can do.

"Clay." My voice is a little rough, but at least I haven't burst into tears myself.

He faces me, although it takes him a second to drag his gaze back from the far distance.

I get to my feet and offer him a hand. "Stand up."

He stares at me. "Okay..." he gets out before letting me help him up. He wobbles a bit, but his shoulders are set.

I give him a nod. "What I want you to do is stand tall, and yell—at the top of your lungs—'I'm Clay Terran and I'm fine!' "

He waits for his breathing to calm down a little. "I... I'm Clay Terran and I'm fine!"

"Come on, louder!"

He widens his stance and takes a deep breath. "I'm Clay Terran and I'm fine!"

I shout extra loud to push him on. "I'm Apollo Justice and I'm fine!"

"I'm Clay Terran and I'm fine!"

"I'm Apollo Justice and I'm fine!"

"I—ha!—I'm Clay Terran and I'm fine!"

Did he laugh just now? I can't help but smile. "I'm Apollo Justice and I'm fine!"

"Haha! I'm Clay Terran and I'm fine!" He dissolves into laughter and has to press on his knees to keep from doubling over.

"I'm A-Apollo..." Before I know what's happening, I'm laughing, too.

I can't say why. Just because someone right next to me is laughing? Because I'm glad I could cheer him up?

It's not that important, though. All that matters is we _are_ laughing. Our situation hasn't changed, but right now, we're here, we're alive, and we're just fine.


	6. Among Friends

I wake up feeling more refreshed than I had expected to be. I didn't stay up that late, but I was still on the roof longer than I should have been, jabbering about dreams. But that's okay. It was nice to unwind with a friend for once.

When I go to the roof for my morning Chords of Steel, I'm there alone. That's fine with me. Engaging in rigorous vocal workouts this often isn't for everyone.

The hot chocolate at breakfast is as delicious and throat-soothing as always.

"What's our plan for today?" Trucy nibbles on her toast.

Maya nods, thinking as she swallows a mouthful of sausage links. "Keep going with survival stands if you think you can get the hang of them. You should practice some fighting skills, too. Even if you don't want to kill anyone—or especially if you don't—knowing what you're doing will help a lot when you're attacked. And keep in mind you'll probably have some mutts to deal with, too." She puffs out a breath. "Those, you can kill."

"Got it." I take a big bite out of my tree-shaped roll.

Mutts, huh? There were some of those in her Games, if I'm not mistaken. She and Phoenix were chased for some distance before another tribute took care of those things. If I have a weapon and the skills, would it be wiser to kill the monsters from the start? As long as close combat doesn't give me any more injuries than being caught for a minute would, I don't see any disadvantages.

Then again, if Trucy can knife everything from a distance, we'll be fine without me trying to swing any swords around.

"And keep an eye on the other tributes." Maya points her fork at us. "You can still hang out with ones you've already met, but be sure to branch out. You may not get to find everyone in the arena, but it's a good idea to have plenty of friends and allies."

"Right." I look between her and Trucy. "We're allying with Clay for sure, right?"

"The guy from 3?" Trucy smiles. "Yeah, he seems really nice."

Maya claps her hands together. "Works for me, then! And remember, every tribute has a skill set. You don't know what will be useful until you actually need it, so don't discount anyone's abilities."

"Yes, ma'am," Trucy chimes before diving back into her breakfast.

* * *

><p>It's reasonable to assume that combat training will wear me out, so I'll just tackle survival stands before lunch. Let's see if we can find some crowded ones.<p>

"How about over there?" My district partner points to the camouflage stand. Three tributes are working with the paints while a fourth lurks nearby. None are Careers.

"Looks good to me," I say, heading over.

Visual disguise probably won't help us much when it comes to hiding from mutts, but I'm sure it could fool tributes into walking right past. The best way to win a fight is to avoid it in the first place, after all. With camouflage, we might have the chance to do that.

The tributes and instructor are silent in their work, so I might as well speak up while I'm not interrupting anyone.

"Good morning. Room for a few more?"

The girl with the hat notices me first. Her expression switches to anxious in a flash. "Oh, u-um... Good morning."

Her district partner, the boy with the odd upper-body brace, turns to me as well. "GOOD MOOOORNIIING!"

I flinch back unconsciously, but Trucy didn't hold her ground any better.

"Hmph." The other boy, whose district number I can't see from here or remember, adjusts his glasses with one hand. "Even if this stand weren't so small, I wouldn't say it had room for two mouth-breathers like you."

"Hugh!" The District 11 girl continues to look worried. "Please stop calling everyone that..."

"My apologies." Hugh doesn't sound all that sincere as he slips a book from his pocket and flips quickly through it. "It's just difficult for a genius like me to humor those of duller wit."

The other boy holds up a small pot painted in earthy colors. Maybe it's a canvas for tributes who don't want to start painting on their arms from the get-go. "You put up with us, though!"

He examines the container for another moment before hurling it to the ground with tears streaming down his face. The harsh clash as it shatters on the floor doesn't mask his voice in the least. "BUT THIS IS AWFUUUUUUUL! How can you stand a man who can't even camouflage a pot?!"

My foot is withdrawn from where a few shards have skidded, and I'm leaning too far back to make balance easy, even with my arms stretched out.

I—I—Maybe I'm done here.

"Robiiin..." The girl tugs on her long braids, her eyes squeezed shut. "And Hugh... Both of you, please, calm down. Just for a little bit..."

"R-right." Sweating, Robin reverts back to his usual battle stance. He's still far from calm, but at least he's not throwing things. "Sorry, man."

Hugh doesn't seem to feel any need to apologize.

The 11 girl turns to me. "Um, I'm sorry if we've startled you." She keeps her mouth open, as if to continue, but coughs a few times instead.

I try to resume a less startled pose regardless. "It's fine. Are you okay?"

She pulls a sunflower off her hat and breathes from it in a few times. I don't think it's an inhaler...

After she puts it back, she continues with that concerned frown. "No, I'm all right. Um—" she grips her hands in front of her for a moment before smiling—"I'm Juniper Woods, from 11. Apollo Justice, right?"

"Ah! Yes, that's right." So not everyone is calling me The Surprised Boy. That's good to know. "And this is Trucy; she's from District 5, too. It's nice to meet you."

"N-nice to meet you, too." Juniper shuts her eyes for a moment before flicking her gaze to the paints and juices spread across the main table. "So, um, you two were interested in camouflage?"

I step aside as the worker sweeps some of the shards away from my feet.

"Yes!" Trucy bounces on her feet. "I love making things disappear, but I haven't used this method before."

"Oh?" Juniper blinks. "Are you a magician of some kind?"

Trucy tips her hat, posing. "The professional kind!"

"How wonderful." Juniper smiles. "Let's all practice together, then?"

I eye Robin and Hugh, who don't seem that physically or mentally destructive at the moment. "Sure."

Despite several distractions—mostly smashed pots—I make decent progress. Robin can work wonders with the paints, but I doubt I'll get my hands on any such thing in the arena. It's not much fun smearing mud all over myself, though. Maybe this is the station I should have saved for last, right before I get to go back and take a shower.

Getting to know these tributes isn't so bad, though. Hugh still looks down his nose at everyone, and Robin's still a little too energetic, but they don't seem like bad people. Neither does Juniper. She has that cough, and she does look a little sickly, but she's kind enough to help and accept help in turn. I can't say that all three of them are promising contenders, but that's not what I'm looking for. I just want a range of people that won't stab me in the back. All alliances will have to fall by the end, but I still want to count on people for as long as I can.

As great as learning camouflage is, the three from 11 and 9 seem a little too hooked on this one stand. I'm sure I can get in practice somewhere else before lunch.

"Trucy?" I start quietly. "You seem a little bored with this. Want to try somewhere else?"

She sets down her set of berry juices immediately. "Sure. What were you thinking?"

I glance across the aisle. "Knot-tying?"

She folds her arms. "But haven't we already done some of that? At, like, two different stands?"

"Okay, where do you want to go?"

"Hmm... Knife-throwing?"

"I'm not standing in front of the target."

She pouts.

"Here." I wipe my fingers clean on one of the provided cloths. "Let's just walk until we find a place."

Once she agrees, I look up to the others. Robin's investigating another painted pot that will probably be smashed soon, while Hugh and Juniper have noticed us pulling aside.

"It's been nice talking with you." I give them a nod. "Trucy and I are going to try a different station now, though."

Trucy wipes her fingers clean and slips her gloves back on. "We'll see you all later, though! You can always join us for lunch if you want."

Robin actually sets the pot down on the table for once. "That sounds GREAT, MAAAAAAN!"

Hugh doesn't turn from his painting work. "I'll consider it, I suppose."

"I'll see you later, then." Juniper smiles at us both. "Have fun."

"You too." I lead us out into the aisle, but Trucy charges ahead of me before long.

"Hey, Athena!" She runs forward waving as Athena turns to see us.

The redhead smiles immediately. "Hey, Trucy. Apollo. How's it going?"

"Good!" Trucy bounces on the balls of her feet. "We just finished up at the camouflage station. How about you?"

She glances at the stretch of rubbery flooring behind her. "I've been hanging out here for a while. Sprinting practice." Grinning, she punches her fist into her other palm. "Wanna race a couple of rounds?"

"Uh..." I guess it would be helpful to practice some running, for the bloodbath if nothing else, but I don't know that I need to race anyone. I've been humiliated enough already, and I don't need to be shown up by anyone in full view of the other tributes and Gamemakers. I can just run around on the roof if I need to.

"Sounds fun! Polly, will you hold my hat?"

"Huh?"

Trucy's thrusting her top hat at me before I can get in a proper response. Well, if I'm busy keeping this safe, I don't have to race anyone. "Okay, sure."

"One of you at a time, then?" Athena puts her hands on her hips and grins. "I can handle that. Apollo, the finish line is..."

Her mouth stays open a little, but she freezes, her eyes focused elsewhere. I note that her necklace has turned a darker blue before I check over my shoulder.

The male tribute from District 2 stands solidly before us. He may not be showing off any muscle in his heavy-looking outfit, but he's still nearly a foot taller than me.

His smirk tilts the tan feather between his lips upward as he trains his dark eyes on Athena. "Cykes-dono."

Athena takes a deep breath and assumes a neutral expression. "Blackquill. Is there something I can help you with?"

My bracelet tightens at "help," but I swallow and look back at the other tribute.

He tilts his head a bit, still looking smug. "Would you at all be interested in joining my alliance?"

"What?" Athena jumps, Widget turning a bright yellow. "Isn't your alliance... the Careers?"

He hooks his chin between his thumb and forefinger. "Indeed. It looks as though we'll have quite a promising pack this year. I'm sure you can see how advantageous it would be for you."

"But why would you want someone like me with you? I haven't trained a day in my life." Frowning, she rests her hands on her hips again.

He gazes off to the side, although his stance doesn't change. "I merely thought I would finish what I had started. That seemed like the reasoning of the powers that be as well."

She stares at him for a minute before he returns her gaze. Even if I closed my eyes, I could feel the tension in the air like some kind of oppressive humidity. It's all I can do not to run for somewhere cooler.

"What about the others?" She swallows. "Your sister?"

He chuckles, but it hardly lightens the mood. "The rest of us may be staunch in following a straight road to victory... but I assure you, I have just the blade to convince every one of them."

Wait, is he going to threaten them?

Athena looks down, gripping her elbow. I get the feeling he glossed over what she really wanted him to answer. "I can believe that. But I..." She suddenly looks up at him, eyes fierce. "I don't want it to end like that. Not if I can help it."

What does she mean, "end"? Dying at the hands of Careers?

His eyes flash. "I'm afraid there's little you can do to dissuade me, Cykes-dono."

She lurches forward, thrusting her hands down. "Then I'm going to do that little!"

He turns his face away. "Is that really what you want? You've come to an understanding of the situation, haven't you?"

"I have, and—" she fists her hands—"y-yes, that _is_ what I want!"

From the way she hunches her shoulders defensively, from the flicker of fear in her eyes, I can tell she isn't sure. But about _what_? Rejecting the Career alliance? It feels like the conversation has taken a turn elsewhere along the way, but I haven't the slightest idea where to.

Blackquill stays paused for a while before turning his back on us. "I encourage you to reconsider, because I won't." He cranes his neck to cock a grin at her. "The way which you're striving after now is advantageous to no one, least of all yourself. Come speak with me when you've realized how grievous it would be to throw away your own life."

He walks away in solid but silent strides.


	7. Blackquill and Cykes

Athena stares after Blackquill as he leaves, her eyes blank.

Trucy cowers for a minute before saying, "Athena...?"

The District 3 girl slowly brings her vision into focus and turns towards her. "Um—yes?"

"What was that?" Trucy's voice sounds a little odd when it's this quiet. She seems... frailer, somehow.

Athena puts her hands on her hips. "Simon invited me to join the Careers, and I declined." She smiles. "I'm already allies with you guys and Clay, right? I don't think they'd let all of us into the pack."

I rest a hand inside my elbow, prodding my forehead with my free index finger. "Is that all it was? It sounded like it was rooted in something else. Do you... know him?"

"No, not really." She scratches her right ear, but only briefly. The motion makes her earring gleam bright yellow. I hadn't noticed it before, with her hair in front of her ears. I don't see one on her other ear, either.

The click of a P.A. is followed by a clear voice from all directions. "Attention, tributes! Food is ready in the lunchroom. Please wrap up your training sessions and come eat as soon as you're ready."

Athena immediately turns that way, popping her knuckles in one punch of the palm. "Great! I'm starved." She bursts forward in a jog, leaving Trucy and me to catch up.

"So," I say once I have the chance, "is there a reason you only have one earring?"

As if just realizing we're still here, she slows down. "You mean this?" She gives the crescent moon a tap, letting it swing. "It's the only one my mother left me, that's all." She grins. "It's supposed to be made of moon rock, so Clay's really jealous."

Ha. I bet he would be.

An image of Clay struggling to pin Athena and swipe the earring crosses my mind, and I almost laugh. I'm sure she would throw him off in a second, though. No luck, Clay. Sorry.

"That's so cool!" Trucy rubs her own earlobes. "Mine are just plastic."

Athena finally slows to a walk as she smiles at Trucy. "They still look great on you, don't worry!"

With a chirping laugh, she bops her head lightly. "Thank you."

I smile, but I can't help thinking back to Athena's latest twitch. If she really was brushing her earring then...

After thinking for a second, I catch her attention.

"Yeah?"

We're drawing closer to other tributes now, so I lower my voice. "Simon Blackquill... Did he have something to do with your mother?"

"My...?" She stops so abruptly I almost pass her. "I..." She gasps in a breath, clenching her elbows as her eyes lose all focus and Widget's screen goes black. "I..." She trembles, her throat working but nothing else coming out.

"A-Athena!"

"Athena!" Trucy steps forward to sling an arm across her back—Athena looks close to falling to her knees. "What's wrong? Are you okay?!"

All Athena can manage is an indistinct noise nearly lost in the sound of her breathing.

"I-I—" I grab one of her wrists. "You like juice, right?!" I nod for her. "I'll be right back!"

And with that, I'm sprinting for the lunchroom, because I don't know what's going on or what I've done to her, but I have to do something about it.

Most of the other tributes are lined up by now, but I charge straight ahead of them to the last table, which carries a neat array of different-colored drinks in cups. At least one person yells at me, but I don't make out the words.

Was it—Did she drink orange juice or apple juice? I think... Maybe... Agh!

I grab a glass of each, turn, and pelt back out to the gymnasium, nearly running over the short guy from 12.

Athena's in exactly the same spot, Trucy still trying to support her. Both of my hands are sticky with what I've managed to slosh out of the cups, but I don't slow down until I'm right in front of them.

"Here," I pant, offering both cups to Athena. Breathing shallowly, she stares at them before slowly reaching out an arm to take the orange juice. She doesn't seem to care about it spilling over the edges as she pulls it towards her lips.

"I-I'm sorry!" I take a huge swig of the apple juice without thinking or taking my eyes off her. "I shouldn't be prying into your life like that. You don't have to answer anything I ask. It's—it's not important, okay? What's important is that you're all right. Are you okay?"

I really have no idea how to encourage her if she can't even speak. But I'm the one that got us all into this, and I have to make it right myself.

Athena lets out a long breath. "It's... okay." She takes another sip of orange juice. "It's okay." Putting her weight back on her feet, she gives Trucy a nod of thanks. "You didn't mean anything by it. Simon..."

I hold a hand out. "You really don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"Right." She takes a step towards the lunchroom, inhales, and starts walking. We keep pace. "My mother did a lot of work with robotics, and she had to travel between districts pretty often. I hated having to travel so much..." She gulps a little more juice. "But a lot of her work was in District 2, and for the time she was there, Simon studied under her."

"Oh, okay." I don't see how any part of that caused her to shut down, but that just means there's still time to stop.

"So that's how I knew him." She takes one more drink of juice before turning her head to smile at us. "Thanks for the juice! Normally it's something I go for _after_ a jog, but! I could go for a little running right now. Still want to race, Trucy?"

She adjusts quickly. "Sure! Although it looks like Polly already beat both of us."

Athena scrunches her nose at me. "Cheater."

"Hey!"

"Okay, Trucy, let's do this! 3, 2, 1, go!" Dropping her cup, Athena tears down the aisle.

With a whoop, Trucy takes off after her. "Don't forget my hat, Polly!" she calls, voice fading as she speeds away, leaving me standing here with an empty but sticky cup and a small pool of orange juice nearly spilled on my shoes.

Where did I even leave her hat?

With a sigh, I set my cup down and try to retrace my steps.

* * *

><p>I'm by far the last one to sit down for lunch, but Trucy has saved me a seat. We're at the farthest table from the buffet line, right next to the Careers. I can see why the other tributes weren't so fond of this one. Juniper especially seems nervous about being so close to them, but she stops fidgeting and throwing glances their way once I approach.<p>

"Thank you!" chimes Trucy when I toss her hat back.

I set my plate down next to her and pick up a fork. No finger foods today. I managed to wash the juice off my hands, but my nails are still stained from the camouflage stand despite my best efforts, and the last thing I want to do is make myself sick before the Games start. I'm at enough of a disadvantage already.

Athena's chattering away at Juniper, and Widget is back to a neutral pale blue. I guess she's feeling all right, somehow. I still want to know what happened, what she's hiding from me, what has hurt her so much, but I have to stay my tongue. I can't risk shutting her down in front of anyone else and definitely not in the arena—especially when I, uh, already announced one of her weaknesses to the crowd. I didn't notice more than one person looking over at us then, but I was more concerned with digging the truth out than surveying the crowd.

Honestly, I should be grateful Athena's even sitting near me after all that, let alone declaring an alliance. Given her other choice, it's hard to believe she's putting up with any of us regular tributes.

I throw a few glances at the Career table, but not enough to get their attention. The boy from 1 is still wearing a helmet and face guard I can't see through. The only time he wasn't wearing it was the parade, when he instead had some kind of weird, telescopic goggles. His district partner sits across from him. She's not that imposing physically, but somehow that doesn't make her seem any less efficient at her job. Even if she can't end me with one punch, she's sure to have plenty of equally lethal techniques at her disposal.

I can only assume the same for the District 4 girl. She looks like more of a gymnast than a fighter, and with those clothes she can't be hiding any muscle. Unlike her district partner. He... Yeah, he could kill me in one punch. Gulp. And what are those huge scars on his shoulders? I'd hate to know how he got those... Or what happened to the other party.

My eyes skip over the other two at the table when Simon's sister stands up. Empty cup in hand, she walks past us with little more than a condescending look. With those eyes, it's not hard to imagine her being a killer.

Simon doesn't react to her leaving, but he's still engaged in conversation with the tribute next to him. The guy all in white—what district was he? He's pretty big, so I can see why—

_Crash!_ Simon slams his hand on the table, rattling the plates and upending one bowl. "Foolbright!" For the first time I can see how chafed his wrist is, although there's nothing on it but the edge of his sleeve.

The boy in white pulls back exaggeratedly with his hands up and his mouth wide open. He looks ridiculously shocked, but then again I cringed enough to bump into Trucy, and I'm not even at the same table.

"Sorry." I scoot back to my proper seat and scoop up a heap of mashed potatoes on my fork.

Trucy titters. "You're fine."

I shoot her a look, but motion ahead catches my eye. Ms. Blackquill is heading back now, walking between our two tables to her spot on the far edge, but she stops. After setting her cup down, she takes a few strides to stand behind the middle of our table. Athena turns to see her before the District 2 tribute slips her fingers under Athena's chin and tilts it upward. Right in the redhead's face now, she hisses:

"Forget anything my idiot brother has said to you, any hope he has given you. He may be a skilled manipulator, but I know all of his tricks, and they will not work on me. You won't enter his protection. Not for long, anyway." Her nails are digging into the underside of Athena's jaw, but the latter makes no move to pull away. "I look forward _greatly_ to serving you justice myself, princess."

She flings Athena's chin away from her and turns, a glare of light crossing her frameless glasses. She tilts her nose up at the rest of us—_What are _you_ going to do?_—before returning to her seat and never giving us another glance.

Athena rubs her chin gently, her eyebrows drawn together.

"Th-Thena?" Juniper reaches towards her.

Inhaling, the 3 drops her hands. "Oh, I'm fine." She smiles. "It doesn't hurt, just feels a little weird."

"But...! What she was saying just now!" She coughs. "What on earth does she think you did?"

With a frown, she says, "I'm not sure." She sounds genuine, but she scratches her ear.

I refuse to try putting the pieces together.


	8. Fighting

Although there's still some shouting and a few magic tricks, nothing at lunch is any more notable than what happened to Athena. She seems to have cheered up the minute she changed the topic to Juniper's garden, but her finger still brushes her ear every once in a while.

I decide to leave her alone for the rest of the day. Maybe it's an apology; maybe I just don't want to be tempted to pry any further. Either way, Trucy and Clay are plenty of company. Possibly more than I need touring the combat stations.

We agree on attempting hand-to-hand training first. It may be harder to do enough damage, but we can't guarantee we'll always—or ever—have weapons on us.

Practicing on the mannequins is mostly a series of the instructor adjusting my stance and telling me to be more aware of where I'm putting my weight, whatever that means. I don't do spectacularly well, although I'm better at keeping my wrists straight than Trucy.

It's a surprisingly long time before we're allowed to practice with partners. We're still not full-on sparring, but it's good to move forward. Although I have to take a few hits in return, the training is a lot more engaging. There's not much to observe about a dummy, but now I have a whole person, in motion, to try to figure out. More variables, more weaknesses. Also a lot more strengths, but let's not think about my bruises too hard.

They may not be as obvious as nervous twitches, but fighters still have little habits. My sparring partner has a hitch in her right hook, but only immediately after a left jab. I don't know if it's because of an injury, a memory, or none of the above, but it doesn't matter. In these situations, all I have to do is take advantage of it!

Right as her swing hesitates, I step into the punch and drive my own fist into her unprotected side. It's not enough to make her fall to her knees or anything, but at least I've done something.

A few hours of sparring, resting, and switching partners go by. Clay's the best fighter of the three of us, even though he's the only one that's not so great at picking out habits.

"Well," he says, picking himself up from his chair in the rest area, "I think I'm going to go check on Athena. You haven't caught a glance of her recently, have you?"

I shake my head, and Trucy thinks for a second before saying no.

Clay takes his jacket off the seat back but leaves it slung over his shoulder for now. "All right. It's not too big an area to search, at least."

"Good luck finding her." I take one more sip from the water fountain. "I'm going to check out the swords."

"Awesome. Trucy?"

She slaps her hat back on. "I think I'll go with you." She glances at me. "Have fun sword-fighting, Polly! I'll catch up with you in a minute."

Both of them are leaving? I guess I could go, too... But...

"Okay. See you then."

* * *

><p>Surprisingly, I seem to be the only one approaching the sword station. I guess nothing's popular all the time, especially with only twenty-four of us trying to learn something.<p>

The instructor leans heavily against the wall, his arms folded and his gaze on the ceiling. He slowly turns his head down as I approach, his natural-looking blonde curls sliding towards his forehead. He doesn't look much less bored with his eyes trained on me.

"Hello." I come to a stop at the threshold. "This stand is open for business, isn't it?"

He glances to the side. "I suppose so. Come on, then." He pushes his weight onto his feet. "Let's see what kind of mass you can handle."

I scan the short wall to my left. Ten swords, ranging from one that could count as a knife to a behemoth nearly the size of Trucy, hang uniformly from the notches in their ledges.

"Goldilocks! You don't appear thrilled to be taking on yet another green shoot. Had your fill for the day?"

I recognize the voice but turn around anyway. Stepping up to the station, hands hanging by his sides close enough to look a bit unnatural, is Simon Blackquill.

Eyes on the instructor, he taps his own forehead a couple of times. "I'd be more than willing to give this hatchling its first nudge from the nest myself."

I can tell from the instructor's eyes that he feels no need to put up a fight. "Great. I'm gonna grab lunch." Dropping his hands into his shorts pockets, he strides away, leaving me alone with Simon. A trained killer. Who's good enough with swords the instructor trusts him to teach me.

I... I'm about to get stabbed, aren't I?

My back to the wall of weapons, I inch toward the open aisle. "I-I'm in no rush. I can come back after the worker's ready to teach me, no problem. If you'll excuse me—"

"Silence!" Eyes flashing, he takes a noticeable step to cut off my exit. I'm dead. "You came here intending to learn the way of the sword, did you not? Do not take it so lightly, or I will cut you down myself! Should you find fault with my instruction after your first lesson, then by all means, wait for the worker with the golden hair." He slams his hand on the front counter. "But no sooner!"

...I guess I won't be leaving yet.

"A-all right." Ugh! I can't let him hear my voice breaking. Show no weakness. "All right! Let's get started!"

He smirks. "Very well. You may call me Sensei if you wish, though my name is Simon Blackquill."

Call him what?

In a few steps, he slips around the other side of the sword display and returns with a long, thin blade.

"I'm Apollo Justice." I swallow but stand my ground. "Now, you're not planning to literally cut me down, right? That would be breaking Training Center rules, after all."

Simon barely manages to sheath his sword before he starts roaring with laughter, banging his hand on the counter a few more times. "And what, pray tell, would they do to me? Send me into the arena in shackles? I would only feel more at home."

"Wh-what?" Does he seriously plan to...?!

Grinning, he rubs his chin. "Rest assured, your extremities will stay intact if you don't give me reason to shorten them."

Stepping again to the front of the sword display, he pauses and selects a blade that's just a bit on the small side. "The most common sword provided in and around the Cornucopia is closest to this size. Shall we see if you can handle it, Justice-dono?"

* * *

><p>Although extremely intimidating, Simon is definitely an expert. I guess the instructor wouldn't have left me with anyone else—although that man's professionalism is definitely questionable. He's content to get Trucy started when she arrives, though.<p>

I pull back for a minute, although I don't take my eyes off the practice dummy or my hands off the sword.

"Justice-dono."

Trying to keep my breathing under control, I turn my head. Simon stands with his arms at his sides, his expression as unreadable as usual.

"Do you believe you're capable of defending yourself?"

I push aside the burning in my arms. "Against what?"

He frowns, his chewing feather downturning. "Whatever or whomever you may face in the arena."

"That's hard to say, isn't it?" I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to picture some of the past tributes and mutts. "They can throw anything they want at me, and I've hardly had a life of training."

His eyes flash. "And are you foolish enough to think you can protect anyone else if you cannot even protect yourself?"

I glance past him at Trucy but turn back to the mannequin. "I'll only be able to protect them for a little while, won't I? Of course, I'll do my best to keep them safe while I can, but... in the end..." Trucy, Clay, Athena, Juniper, Robin, Hugh... and everyone else. If I'm going to survive this, they're not.

"Only one warrior will stand." Simon turns his back to me. "And you intend for it to be you?"

"I... would like that, yes."

"Hmph," he says. "And I had hoped we wouldn't be working toward such conflicting purposes."

I lift up my sword again. "You want to be the victor?"

He looks at me over his shoulder. "Every samurai needs both a katana and a wakizashi. He has to know when it is right to fight for his life... and when he must hurl it away from him."

I can't figure out half of what he said, and the other half was still unclear. "Was that a no...?"

He huffs, looking straight ahead once more. "There are much more important things to fight for than one's own life, Justice-dono."

"Of course." I swallow. "But it's hard to fight for them if you're dead."

With a roar of laughter, he finally faces me. "I suppose it depends on the path you've chosen, hmm?" He straightens up. "There is no turning back for me, however. I hope that you will find reason to aid me—" his palm rams into the tabletop—"for I can guarantee that you will not live. Whether you would prefer to struggle for your own freedom only to fail, or to die a noble death? That is up to you."

I can't focus on my sword at all anymore, nor can I push off the fatigue in my arms. I sheathe it and lay it on the counter. "Wh-what are you planning?"

He throws a glance at my sword before resting his gaze on me. "The victor of these Games will be Cykes-dono."

"Athena?" It makes sense, considering what he said to her earlier. "Why her?"

With a low exhale, he turns his face to the side. "You could say that I owe her."

"Her personally? She told me you studied under her mom..."

"Ah." He smirks. "Did she also mention that I murdered her mother?"

"Wh-wha..." In my shock, I barely register my bracelet tightening. "What?!"

He glowers at the wall again. "She was an excellent mentor, and I repaid her by cutting her down." There goes my bracelet again—but I can't for the life of me spot any tells. "I've been destined for death since then, regardless of how I fight in that arena. As such, the best I can do is ensure the victory of another—and who better than the poor daughter of the woman I killed?"

He faces me, expression stony. "So then, what will you do? Struggle against every last one of us in the faint hope that you may live? Or will you work together with me, with Cykes-dono, with others, to save the life of an innocent girl?"

...!

"Justice-dono!"

Why did my bracelet react at "innocent"...?

"I'll think about it," I manage, rubbing my wrist until the tension dissipates.

He turns around. "Do inform me when you're finished 'thinking,' yellowbelly. Perhaps then I shall continue your training."

With that, he walks away, leaving me to stand here bewildered and teacherless.


	9. Love and Fear

As exhausted as I am, as hard as I try, I can't fall asleep.

Am I going to survive? Should I even be trying to? I already know I'm not going to kill anyone. I can't justify murder for my own sake. Not when I've watched so many Games, been so disgusted by the things tributes have done in hopes of winning. There are a few cases that didn't rub me the wrong way, sure, but... only once has one of those killers been the victor.

What hope do I have if I don't kill a single person? That kind of victory is unprecedented, after all. And what's so special about me? My bracelet? Yeah! Great! I'm going to win the Hunger Games because I can tell when they're lying!

So where does that leave me? Another average kid trying not to die. How many of us does that make? What makes me think I can survive longer than them? Longer than the Careers? What makes me think I can fight any of them off? A few punches, a few sword strokes? I've worked on them for hours; the Careers have had years. Do I really have a chance?

And what if I don't? What do I do then? Just look after the others? If I can't keep myself from dying, how am I supposed to do any good for them? Would I really be of any use in Simon's little coalition to save Athena? Would I even want to be? She seems like a fine person, but I still hardly know her. And there was that bit about calling her "innocent"—but no, I bet that was nothing. I never caught any tells from Simon, so maybe he talks in some way that keeps giving off false alarms.

And why should I have to focus on helping Athena win? What's wrong with Trucy? Juniper? The rest? Who am I supposed to defend? Who am I supposed to let die? Does it even matter when so many of us are going to be killed either way?

I don't want to die...! _I don't want to die!_

I-I need to go back to the roof. I can't just sit here silently, pulling my hair out over all the ways I'm not fine. It's doing me no good at all.

I start to push myself off the mattress, but my limbs protest to the point of freezing up. I collapse onto my back with a groan. I'm not going to make it up eight flights of stairs in this condition. Am I allowed to ride the elevator to other floors? And can I even drag myself to the elevator in the first place?

Well, I can't start shouting right here. Trucy and Maya are having some sort of "girl time," so the escort and I aren't allowed anywhere near Trucy's room. I imagine that sending my voice through the walls would be violating that contract.

But I have to do _something_. Ugh...

Thankfully I don't have to flail my arms much to reach the buttons on the headboard. With one set, I order a cup of grape juice that's dispensed immediately. With another, I turn on the television, a set of headphones keeping the noise away from anyone else. It takes several clicks to get away from Hunger Games specials. The factory goods documentary I settle on isn't that interesting, but it's something to occupy my mind. The images are oddly engrossing to watch until they zoom in on a set of sharp, whirring gears.

They've had a trap like that in the arena before. It didn't even tear the entire unfortunate tribute to shreds, but she still bled to death as all of her allies watched. Will they have one of those this year? Who's it going to kill?

Images of me, then Trucy being shredded and ground up flash across my vision before I manage to change the channel. Sports. Normal sports. It's a play by play of amazing catches, apparently made throughout this week. Pretty, uh—pretty incredible leaps.

I'm into the dregs of my drink when I hear a shout. I mute the television immediately and hear screaming.

Trucy? What... What on earth is going on? I mean, she's okay... right?

I think of the trap again and bolt out of my room. Standing outside Trucy's door, I can feel my pulse in my bare feet as I try not to fall over.

"But! But that's impossible! I... She... Daddy..." Is Trucy crying? She... sounds okay, though.

Of course. We're nowhere near the arena. Nobody's in danger yet. What was I thinking...?

Stifling a groan, I put my back against the door frame and try not to let myself slide to the floor. I should get back to bed... if I can...

"No, Trucy! Don't you see? This is great news!"

"But-but if she... Where is she?! Why didn't she come to tell me goodbye? Did I do something wrong? Why... Why would she... Why would everyone... lie?"

Their voices have calmed down now, but I can still hear Maya making shooshing noises. I imagine her pulling Trucy into a hug. "It's not your fault. I'm sure it's not your fault. It's just, sometimes... Sometimes people have to do things like that." She sniffles. "I know she has a good reason. It has to be so hard on her, to stay away from you. But it's probably for your sake, you know? Mothers would do anything for their children. She still loves you, she must be proud of you..."

What are they talking about, anyway? Trucy's mother?

I guess it's really none of my business, and I'm not supposed to be here, anyway. I'm sure I can make it back to my room. Let's get going before I overhear something that I _really_ shouldn't. I'm not sure what else girl time includes, but—

"Ngurk." Head pounding, I try to take a deep breath as I grab the wall to help me along. Come on... It's not that far...!

I'm clinging to my doorknob, trying not to collapse in the threshold, when the other door flies open with a crash. I turn just in time to see Trucy barrel into me.

"Polly! Polly!" She's hugging me tightly, and I can feel the moisture on her cheek against my neck. "She's alive!"

My first thought is that girl who died in the trap, so I stare at Trucy goggle-eyed until she pulls back beaming.

"My mother's alive!"

"Oh?" I stumble back, but the door keeps me from falling on my butt. "Um, that's great." Why is she making a big deal of it all of a sudden...? She must have mentioned her mother before, but I can't recall anything at the moment.

Right behind her, Maya clamps a hand around Trucy's wrist and gives it a tug. Then our mentor smiles at me. "We just heard back from the District. She's been having some difficulties for a while, but it looks like she's going to be okay."

I feel like she's lying... but I haven't noticed my bracelet tightening. Then again, I can barely tell what's going on. "That's really nice."

"All right, you guys." Maya takes a step back. "You should get some rest. Sleep if you can."

"Yes, ma'am!"

I yawn. "I'll do my best."

"All right. Good night!"

I glance at Trucy, who seems a little confused but mostly happy. I'm not sure what else to tell her.

"Night...?"

She gives me another quick hug. "Good night, Polly!"

With that, she hurries back to her room, leaving me to totter into mine hoping I can shut my eyes for a while.

* * *

><p>Although I make a point of avoiding the sword-fighting stand all morning, Simon still ends up behind me at the lunch line. He doesn't say a word as we go through, but I can feel his glare. Even when he drifts off to another table, the back of my head tingles.<p>

He doesn't expect me to team up with him, does he? But he hasn't actually given up... I think. Why else would he stare at me? I'm not a threat to him, especially if he has a sword. Is he just disappointed? No, that's not strong enough. Revolted, maybe. Revolted by my cowardice.

But I'm not a coward! Not wanting to die doesn't make me a chicken; it just means I don't want to die! I still have no intention of sacrificing everyone else for my sake, either. I just... I'm going into the Hunger Games. There's nothing I can do, heroic or otherwise, to get more than one of us out. And I'm not a coward for wanting it to be me. I swear I'm not...

The hair on the back of my neck prickles when I hear Simon's voice behind me, but he's looking elsewhere. More specifically, he's eyeing Klavier, who's still standing with his tray in his hands.

"...but it seems another tribute has stolen my image as the man in chains."

Klavier laughs, throwing his bangs back with a jerk of the head, in lieu of his hands. "Nein, I was framed for this robbery—I'm afraid my stylists are the true guilty party here." With all the chain necklaces and belts he's always wearing, I can't say it was entirely their fault.

He leans back a bit. "Although my little motif isn't that prisoner-like. You could always ask for shackles on your next costume. I doubt anyone would confuse the two of us, chains or no chains."

...The deep conversations of trained killers.

I turn back to my food but bump Trucy's shoulder in the process. "Sorry."

"You're fine."

I have a bite of bread in my mouth before I stop and shoot her a look. "Ha, ha."

"Huh?" Blinking, she lifts her chin from her hands and turns to me. It doesn't take more than a second to realize Klavier was in her line of sight previously.

I sigh. "Quit swooning."

"I-I'm not swooning!" She fists her hands. "To swoon is to faint, and I am one hundred percent conscious!"

"That's great." Stifling a yawn, I sip at my coffee.


	10. Sacrifice Yourself

I'm at the edible plants stand with Clay when a voice booms behind me.

"Stop, in the name of justice!"

What? What did I do?

Eyebrows scrunched together, I set down the fake berries in my hand and turn around. It's the boy from 10, still decked out in white. He's been sitting with the Careers, right? What was it that Simon called him? It may have just been an insult...

"Sorry, Mr. Peacekeeper!" Clay salutes as he spins around on his chair. "What is it?"

The 10 blinks a few times, taken aback, before smiling. That getup _is_ kind of Peacekeeper-y, now that he mentions it.

Pushing his sunglasses up at an angle I can't see his eyes, he says, "I'm afraid I'm no official, but so long as you see me as a defender of justice..." His brown-tinted glasses slide back down as he salutes with two fingers. "My name is Bobby Fulbright. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

"Clay Terran." He holds out a hand. "District 3."

While they're shaking, I roll one of the berries on the table. "Apollo Justice, District 5."

"What a wonderful name!" Fulbright butts his knuckles up against his hips. "Truth and justice rolled into one shining paradigm of virtue!"

"Er... Right." I rest my forearm on the table. "Why was it you needed us to stop?"

He responds with a strong nod. "I'm searching for allies to support a righteous cause."

You mean yourself?

Clay folds his arms on the back of his chair. "Aren't you already allies with the Careers?"

Fulbright pulls back, hands up. "No! It's nothing of that sort! Hunting down innocent tributes—" he nearly punches me before holding up a clenched first in a position ready to jab—"I could never condone something so unjust! I seek allies for a fight much greater!"

Wait... So if he's not seeking allies to protect him... And he's not with the Careers, even though I've seen him sitting next to Simon...

I suck in a breath. "Is this about Athena?"

"That's exactly right!" In good humor again, he smiles widely. "Have you already joined us?"

"Wait, what's going on?" Clay looks at me.

"I... No, I haven't really joined yet." I nod at Clay. "Simon—the guy from 2—is trying to gather a group to keep Athena safe through the end of the Games."

"Huh?" He puts a hand on his chest. "Why haven't I heard anything about this?"

I turn to Fulbright. "Does Athena know about it herself?"

He heaves a huge sigh, slumping and tapping his index fingers together. "She does, but I'm afraid she's not that happy with it."

Clay squints. "So you're conspiring against her to save her? I mean, she didn't even ask her own district partner for help... Are you sure it's really a good idea? If she doesn't get a choice in the matter, it's not fair to her."

"Not fair?!" His hands fly to the side of his head as he grimaces, wide-eyed. "Do you think so? I can't participate in something unfair! Not me, the very model of justice itself!"

...If I ever end up in an alliance with this one, it would have to be from utter necessity.

"Listen..." I'm not sure if I have his attention, as he's muttering rapidly to himself. "I think it's great that you're dedicated to this kind of venture, but I don't think I belong in the alliance. Don't get me wrong; there's no way I'm going to kill Athena, and if she comes to me needing help, I'll try to lend a hand. But I'm not going to make promises that I can't keep, especially if she hasn't approved of this herself."

I don't understand why she wouldn't, though. Is it a matter of guilt, of knowing you'll have to watch everyone supporting you die? Or what was it she was saying to Simon the other day? I can't quite recall the conversation now.

"Same here." Clay holds his breath for a second, looking down. "If she asks me, I'll help her out. If she doesn't, I won't. It's her choice to make, not ours."

"I... I see." Fulbright continues his attempt to crush his head between his palms. "Maybe I—but an innocent girl! But—oh...! Which justice is the most just?"

I cross my arms, turning back to the table. "Honestly, the only Justice in the arena is going to be me."

Fulbright drifts off elsewhere to ponder the meaning of justice before I hear rapid footsteps.

"Polly!" Speeding towards us with another tribute in tow is Trucy. I can't tell who it is behind her, but her ponytail is a lot less ragged than Simon's. Even as she comes up next to Trucy, she's still covering her face with a handful of fanned slips of paper. Wasn't someone hiding her face at the reaping? I think there were two of them... but only one shaking this hard.

"I found a new friend! This is Jinxie Tenma, from District 8." Trucy bobs on her feet.

Jinxie peeks over her cover, revealing a criss-cross of two more paper slips on her forehead. She only gets one look at me before shaking harder. "...Two horns. A love of red. Are you a demon?"

"What? No. I'm Apollo Justice! I—"

"Eek! He _is_ a demon!"

"What the—?!" I try not to fall off the side of my chair as she smacks a piece of paper onto my forehead. My breath flutters it as I try to recover.

"Be gone, foul beast!" Jinxie straightens up a bit, another slip of paper at the ready.

Trucy giggles. "Does being loud make him a demon, too?"

"What on earth is this thing?" I tug at the loose end of the paper, and Jinxie flinches. I have a feeling she'd slap me with another one if I take it off.

"I-it's a warding charm..." She's back to shivering.

Oh. Because I'm a "demon." "Well, try not to attack me with them!"

"Eek!" She bows back, eyes squeezed shut. "Forgive me, O terrible one!"

Sweating, I peel the paper off my forehead while she's not looking.

Trucy pouts, eyes trained on me. "Maybe you should go easy on your Chords of Steel, Polly." She turns to her new friend, patting her on the shoulder and smiling. "Don't worry, Jinxie, he's a good demon."

Jinxie throws me a glance, half-hidden behind her warding charms. "H-he won't eat me?"

"Of course not." Trucy gives me a pointed look.

I sigh. "No, I'm not going to eat you. I just had lunch, anyway." And now I'm playing along, too...

"O-okay..." Jinxie lowers her guard a bit, and I can see that she's frowning. I don't get the feeling that's going to change anytime soon.

"So, uh." Can't get too loud, or I'll be taking another paper to the face. "You're from District 8?"

She nods. "My f-father is the mayor."

"Oh. Wow." Clay scoots his chair a bit closer to us. "That must be why you had such a nice outfit for reaping day, huh?" He smiles.

I can tell she's not even considering the possibility that he's a demon. "Yes. I've been trying to find my own job, but we're well-off on our own. Even those who work for the household are paid well." She scratches under her left collarbone briefly.

Trucy notices. "And your district partner was one of those people?"

"That's right." She looks into the distance, but when I check, no one is standing there. "Poor Papa... Even if he doesn't lose both of us..."

"Ah... I'm sorry." I drop my gaze.

"He's already lost my mother, too." I can hear the paper crinkle as her grip tightens. "I c-can't imagine..."

Trucy pulls her into a hug, and Clay hops over his chair to join in.

"Then don't imagine it." The District 3 boy pulls away first, making eye contact for as long as Jinxie seems able to hold it. "You can remember who you're fighting to get home to. There's nothing wrong with that. But don't worry yourself sick over it. It's not your responsibility. All you need to do is know that he's rooting for you, and do your best, okay?"

"That's right!" Trucy bounces a few times. "Just imagine coming back home to him." Her friend doesn't seem that focused on it, so she fists her hands. "Come on! Picture it. Isn't he happy?"

Jinxie shuts her eyes and nods after a minute. She still isn't smiling, but her features seem a bit less tense.

I feel like I should jump in with something, too—but then again, I'll probably just frighten her to death. Leave it to the humans to comfort her, I guess.

"Oh, and I didn't get to say earlier, but this is Clay." Trucy waits for Jinxie to open her eyes again. "He's from District 3—same as Athena. Ah!" Her hand flies to her mouth. "Have you met her yet?"

Jinxie shivers. "No..."

"Okay! I should track her down for you, then." She bobs on the balls of her feet. "You can hang out with Polly and Clay for a while so I don't run you all over the place looking."

Jinxie glances at me but seems all right once she's behind her paper fan. "All right."

With a nod, Trucy takes off and waves. "I'll be right back, you guys!"

Clay laughs, cupping his hands around his mouth. "Don't you dare keep us waiting!"

"I won't!"

She disappears around the corner, and I look back at Jinxie. Shifting her weight between her feet, she still doesn't make eye contact. She's far from comfortable with me. If only I had some way to prove I'm not a demon... Well, some way she would understand.

"So, you're friends with Trucy?" I start slowly.

A shiver goes across her shoulders. "Y-yes. She's very nice."

I lean back a bit, resting my elbow on the table. "Did she do some magic tricks for you?"

"Mmm-hmm." She leans forward, just enough that I can see her whole face. The bags under her eyes are pretty impressive. "She's really good at them."

Wait. So wearing a red vest and pants makes me a demon, but performing magic is a normal human thing? What on earth is this girl's rationale?!

"Hey, how come I haven't gotten a magic show yet?" Pouting, Clay clasps his hands behind his head.

I nudge him with my shoulder. "She'd be overjoyed to give you one once she gets back."

"Oh, Jinxie. THERE you are."

When I look back at Jinxie, another tribute is standing by her. No, maybe he's an escort. Or... No, I remember her district partner being dressed in something closely approaching Capitol fashion. If anyone here needs to be called a foul demon on basis of his clothing, well, it shouldn't be me.

Jinxie only seems a bit startled by his appearance, though. "Hello. Have... you been looking for me?"

"Of course." He pats the bright green flower on his lapel. "I can't have Mayor Tenma's daughter running amok with such DANGEROUS tributes everywhere." His head swivels to bring Clay and me into his field of vision, but his chin stays up. "I don't believe I've introduced myself to these members of the PEASANTRY. I am the one and only Florent L'Belle, Beau Divine."

Clay stands before folding his arm in front of himself and dipping into an exaggerated bow. "I am HONORED to be in the presence of such a MARVELOUS specimen of sophistication."

No—I'm not... I'm not gonna—

But Florent looks more self-satisfied than anything, and Clay still hasn't risen, and I just can't stop myself from bursting into laughter.

"Oh!" Scowling, the eyesore forcefully adjusts his flower one more time before I'm doubled over again. Darn it, Clay...!

When I finally manage to straighten myself up, I get one moment to register the flower coming off in his hand. Then it sprays a mist in my eyes, and I cringe back with a yelp.

"Augh!" Corneas burning, I pray I'm not about to go blind just before the Games start.

"A-Apollo!" Clay says.

I can hear Florent chirping in laughter. "This is my signature scent of greeting, _Bonjour_. Isn't it SUPERB?"

Not used like this! How many of you guys are going to attack me before a Peacekeeper finally stops this?

This perfume is way too strong, anyway...

I manage not to cough, and after a minute of eye-rubbing, I'm seeing normally. Or, I would be if any normal sights were in front of me.

"So—" maybe if I keep him talking, he'll be less quick to spritz me—"you work for Jinxie's father?"

"I am the mayor's personal AIDE. Perhaps that CONCEPT is not easy for a man of LESSER beauty to understand?"

If you consider _yourself_ beautiful, I'm really glad you don't think the same of me. "Personal aide, right. So you're pretty close to him?"

"You could CALL me his right-hand man." He dramatically wipes a tear from his eye with one finger. "It's such a SHAME for me to get caught up in this affair. As per my LOYALTY to him, I have SWORN to protect his only daughter."

My bracelet...!

"Sorry, could you repeat that?"

With an amused laugh, he goes for the perfume again, but I close my eyes in time. I can't do much about the smell, though.

"I said, I have taken it upon MYSELF to see _Miss Jinxie home S_·_A_·_F_·_E_—"

Gotcha!

Right there! A little twitching in his throat, like he's trying not to laugh. He isn't the least bit serious about saving her...

"—for the mayor's sake, and her OWN."

I rub my forehead with one finger. "That's..." I sigh. "That's very noble of you."

What can I do? Tell him off for not being ready to die for her? At least point out how much of a danger he is to Jinxie? She'd probably be so terrified of me using "demonic powers" to figure this out that she wouldn't even listen. It's better for her to find out for herself.

Florent smiles, petting his flower. "Isn't it?"


	11. For Your Own Good

After a little more plant-memorizing, I end up at the axe-throwing station with Trucy and Athena. The short, raccoon-looking guy from 12 is here, too, but Robin is the only one we do much chatting with. Despite his aptitude at throwing things to the ground, he doesn't have the best aim. Even Trucy isn't that great with weapons this weighty.

Once we're ready to get back into things after our first break, Athena and I go for the same axe, but we both pull back before our hands can collide.

"Sorry. Go ahead." I take a step back, looking at the ground.

"Thanks." She slips the weapon out of its stand before turning to me and putting one hand on her hip. "Are you still upset about yesterday?"

"I, uh..." I rub at my scalp until I get the feeling I'm holding up the line. "I'm still really sorry about that."

She grins. "Then I forgive you. Vamos—let's get back to practice."

"Right!" I grab an axe and get out of Trucy's way. "So... we're still friends?"

"Of course." She pauses, propping the axe on the floor to tap her earring a few times. "Even... if I do end up allying with Simon?"

"Huh?" I follow her to the throwing range. "Is that what you're planning to do?" It would be a smart move, but it's hard to imagine. He was a big part of what sent her into silence yesterday.

Then again... What was it I overheard him telling her earlier?

_"If I heard correctly, we're working at exact cross-purposes. So tell me, Cykes-dono, how do you plan to achieve your goal if you cannot keep an eye trained on me?"_

Then she said something about him being perfectly able to defend himself, to which he responded with a hand slam and "Give me a reason to."

It's not really any of my business what Athena decides to do. The important part is that we're friends. Even if we don't necessarily defend each other from attack, we're still allies in a way. As long as this wouldn't lead to us hurting each other, I can't object.

Athena frowns. "I might. I'm still thinking about it."

"That's all right. Go with whatever seems safer to you." I smile. "It would be silly to choose otherwise."

"You're right!" Widget chirps. Athena hops over to the next mannequin. "I'm glad you understand, Apollo. I don't want to make an enemy of you—and not just because, well, you know..."

Because enemies are the ones that kill each other in the arena. I agree, though. Maya was right. It's good to have friends, even in a situation like this. You can't get that close, but it's nice to have each other's backs while you still have the chance.

"Thanks. I'm glad we're friends, too."

The trainer cuts in with a rather loud throat-clearing, and we get back to our axe-throwing. I just don't have a knack for this, but maybe if I practice a little more...

That line of thought persists for about an hour before it's clearly time to throw in the towel. My arm's haven't quite realized the strain I've put them through yet, but if I'm not going to get discernibly better at this, it's not worth my time. There's very little of it left, too.

"I think it's time for me to head out." With a thank-you to the instructor, I start toward the storage nook.

Trucy lets out a sigh, her hands on her hips. "Yeah, I think I've done about all I can, too."

"Hmm, all right." Athena thinks for a moment. "I'm going to stick around here for a while longer." She smiles, flashing a peace sign. "Have fun, you guys! I'll see you around. Hey, Robin! Bet I can land more hits than you before the Center closes!"

Robin drops his axe in favor of clenching both fists and roaring. "It's OOOOONNNN!"

Leaving them to that, I help Trucy put up her axe, and we step into the aisle. Nearby and unoccupied is a stream-fording station, which sounds useful enough to me. It starts out with more of a lecture, but I don't mind the opportunity to catch my breath and cool down. So long as I learn something, it's not wasted time.

We're practicing a team crossing in a thigh-high endless current before a flash across the aisle distracts me. Although I don't lose my footing, I unclasp my hands for a second, and Trucy has to give me a tug before our elbows can come unhooked.

"Ack!" I clamp my hands together again and, once the instructor has the floor moving, resume walking.

What was that? It looked like some sort of television screen, but not projecting from a stand. Wait, was it coming from Widget? And what was Athena doing with it? The instructor didn't seem concerned, although I only saw him for a second.

I glance back that way but slip on the artificial riverbed in the same instant. With a "glurk," my face hits the water, and Trucy's arm is the only thing keeping me from shooting to the back of the tank. When I bring my head up above the surface gasping, I can see that she's gripping the side of the enclosure to keep herself from going down. The instructor barks at the both of us—me for being a doofus and Trucy for grabbing things that won't be there in the arena—but she doesn't see fit to kick us out yet. She brings the moving floor and the current to a stop until we've regrouped, and then we try again.

It doesn't take much longer for us to graduate from the station—although not with honors—so I dry off and hurry to where Athena still stands with that blue screen in front of her. She and Robin have put away the axes; there may not be any time left to use them, with the stations cleaning up for the demonstrations.

As I'm approaching, slicking back the drooping remnants of my hair spikes, the first thing I hear is a shout from Robin.

"BUT I'LL NEVER BE AS PRETTY AS JUNIPER!"

...What?

Athena immediately sends a glance back at me, and I wonder if I said that aloud, but I'm close enough for her to notice me otherwise.

"Hey, Apollo."

"Hey." I come to a stop at her right. The screen in front of her throbs with a picture of Robin as well as a few faces I've seen on Widget in the corners. Happy, mad, sad, surprised. The mad one is radiating rings of light at the moment. "Mind if I ask what's going on?"

Hand poised above the screen, she smiles. "Sure. This is the Mood Matrix. It's a program on Widget that helps to sort out people's emotions—you know how the brunt of the data is gathered." Considering she's not saying it outright, she must mean her own sense of hearing. "Normally I look for emotions that conflict with what a person is saying, but right now the anger is overwhelming anything else in Robin's voice. In this case, I try to probe the conversation to find out what's causing the excess emotion." Grinning, she crosses her arms. "Want to give it a try?"

"Er—" I turn my toward Robin—"are you all right with this...?"

"Of course he is!" Athena clenches her fists and frowns. I get the feeling she's been asked this on more than one occasion. "This is psychological therapy! It only does good!"

"O-okay, okay." Although I have to admit that Robin's looking a little uncomfortable, clutching his upper arm like that. "You doing all right over there?"

"Uh... Yeah. Yeah, I'm good." His eyes flick back and forth, but he doesn't look either of us in the eye.

"All right, then." I step up to the screen and look it over. Aside from the raging mad face, it's just Robin from crown to hip and the words "I'll never be as pretty as Juniper" over him.

Um, so I... Um...

"Just poke at different parts of the screen—" Athena taps Robin's paint-stained headband with one finger, lighting it up—"until you think you've found the source of the anger. Then press Probe."

"Okay..." I lift my hand over the screen, dip it towards Robin's head, then pull back.

Athena doesn't stifle her laughter very well.

"We don't use this kind of technology where I come from, all right?!"

Athena grins. "Sorry."

Sure you are.

Taking a deep breath, I poke at the screen a few times to get my bearings.

So I'm trying to figure out what's making Robin so angry. And it has something to do with the fact that he can't be as pretty as Juniper...? Er, okay. Well, his hair's kind of short, but I don't know that that means anything. There's his face, but, uh, he doesn't have any deformities. It can't be his outfit when Juniper doesn't have much of a different repertoire here, as far as I can tell. Unless that training brace is keeping him from being able to wear certain things. It _does_ go all the way around his chest.

Well, I don't have any better ideas. I'm sure Athena would have warned me if getting it wrong hurt anything.

I select the brace and hit Probe.

"Hmm." Athena nudges me away from the screen and looks over it. "You think Robin's anger is directed at the brace..." She glances at the text on the screen before staring at Robin. "You want to take it off, but you can't."

"O-of course I can't!" Sweating, Robin seems to brace for impact. "This is important for building muscle, man! How am I supposed to be manly without it?!"

What is he talking about? I'm not that muscular, and I'm certainly manly enough. I don't see how he...

He...

He?

"Robin!" Athena surges forward, her palms slamming onto the table in front of her. "Are you actually—"

I clamp my hand across her mouth before she can finish. She makes a muffled exclamation before pushing my arm away. With a growl, I pull her back by the elbow and lower my voice.

"Athena. We can't do this."

"What are you talking about?" She nearly spits in my face. "The discord in Robin's voice is almost gone, and I know I've figured it out! You have, too, haven't you? That she's—"

She sees my hand coming in time to dodge but still shuts her mouth. Her scowl says she certainly isn't happy about it, though.

"I thought so, but we're both wrong." I raise my eyebrows. "If Robin is a girl, then the Capitol made a mistake reaping her alongside Juniper." I glance at the instructors in the area, at the few Gamemakers lingering up above us. Dropping my voice to such a low volume it hurts my throat, I say, "Do you want to look the Capitol in the eye, _right now_, and tell them that they were _wrong_?"

Athena freezes, her rage cooling instantly. "But... Robin..." She throws a glance at the 11, who's fingering her restraints but not doing anything about them.

I nod and look over at her myself. "Robin. You don't have to be that concerned about being 'manly.' Maybe by your district's standards, being strong all of the time is important, but we're in the Capitol now, and you'll have a Capitol audience. I know you've at least interacted with your stylists, right?"

Gripping her arm harder—not pleasant thoughts, I'm guessing, although she of all people would have plenty of reason—she nods stiffly.

"So I think you know they don't have such strict standards about their men." I smile. "So be yourself. As much as you, uh, feel comfortable with, at least." I consider throwing in a wink, but there are a few onlookers, and I don't want to be too obvious that I mean "don't take off the brace."

"You... think so?" Robin swallows as a guard tells us to clear out for lunch. Athena shuts down the Mood Matrix and takes a few steps. The rest of us stay with her.

"We do." She smiles. "Of course, you'll have to impress the viewers, but I believe you can do that whether you're a little bit girly or not."

Robin hesitates before charging Athena and me with a hug, giggling madly. "Thank you!"

I grin. "Don't mention it."

Keeping myself from stumbling, I take a second to figure out where I'm going. Some tributes ahead are lining up by the lunch area, while Trucy's a few steps in front of me. And then there are Juniper and Hugh—both looking shocked. How close were they standing when we figured it out? By their faces, I'm guessing they put the pieces together, too.

Robin hasn't completely let go of us by the time we get near the chattering crowd. I can just hear her whisper, "Boys take more tessarae" before she hops to her other friends.


	12. Preparations and Diversions

Straddling her chair, Maya gives me a thorough look-over, squinting for reasons unrelated to the morning sunlight. "Hmm..."

I continue to sit up straight in my chair, but I soon realize I'm scratching at the right armrest like I'm going to hurl myself to my feet any minute. There's nothing to be afraid of—how hard can coming up with an angle be, anyway?—but I may have had a little too much caffeine with breakfast today. Combined with my general situation, I'm surprised I can sit still at all. But if nothing else, my aching arms and back are enough to keep me in place.

"Well," she says with a smile, "you're pretty cute when you're embarrassed. How about we try a humble angle?"

"Yeah?" I rub my scalp a few times before my bangs pop back into place. "I was kind of hoping I could go for more of a cool-guy angle."

Maya makes a valiant effort not to burst out laughing, but with her cheeks puffed out like that, she's not fooling anyone. "How about not. I'm sure plenty of other tributes will be going for that, anyway, and you want to stand out, especially since your training score was pretty average."

Yeah, a 5 isn't that great, I admit. Especially when even Trucy got an 8. Aside from that, there wasn't really anything unexpected except Hugh getting a 9.

"But you think I could pull off humble well enough?"

She nods. "And, if you don't mind me asking, you're from the community home, right?"

"Yes, I am."

"You could use that as a point in your favor if you'd like."

"Okay." I press a finger to my forehead. "And that kind of angle will actually get me sponsors?"

"Of course!" She smiles. "All you have to do is make yourself lovable enough that nobody in the Capitol can bear to watch you suffer."

I slump. "Actually, the majority of people seem to enjoy my suffering..."

She claps her hands together. "Then this is your chance to change that!"

If you say so.

We work on question prep the rest of the morning without her feeling any need to go for a different angle. After a much-needed lunch break, I switch places with Trucy and have the escort train me for a bit. Since I'm not exactly going on a date, there's not much to cover as far as etiquette. The result is an afternoon of nitpicking about my precise posture until the old man loses his focus.

Then there's a bit of free time, dinner, and a little more time to myself. I'm not sure what to do with it, so I end up forcing another workout session. As long as I don't pull anything, it can't hurt. Well. Hurt my chances in the Games.

I'm ready to fall face-first on the bed when someone knocks. Taking a seat on the edge of the bed instead, I say, "Come in."

The door opens quietly—I've yet to hear one creak in the Capitol—and Trucy steps in.

"Hey, Polly."

"Hey. What's up?" I invite her to sit next to me, and she does.

After adjusting her clean-smelling cape, she turns to me with her hands on her knees. "Are you doing okay?"

"Huh? Me? Uh... Yeah, I'm fine." I fold my arms, looking at the blue carpet. "As fine as any other tribute here."

She nods, adjusting her gloves.

I shut my eyes. "What do you really want to know?"

She shifts enough to jiggle the mattress before exhaling. "I'm... just kind of worried."

"Yeah?" I'm not sure what to do, so I end up putting an arm across her shoulders. "About what?"

She swings her legs for a moment before gripping her hands together and looking at me. "I don't think you should hate Klavier so much. I can't expect you to be friends with everyone, but you have to be careful with this kind of stuff. In the arena... I mean, there are the Careers, but a lot of normal tributes turn to killing, too, and... I know you don't want to kill anyone, but this is how it starts, and if you do get mad or scared enough to kill him, then it's easier to kill another person and—"

"Trucy, Trucy...!" I pull her into an awkward half-hug until she trails off, still shivering. "Where did you...? Listen, I don't _hate _him. I'm—I'm just wary of him."

She grips her fingers. "Why? I know he's hiding a few things, but everyone is. Is it just because of Kristoph?"

"I..."

"Being related doesn't mean they have to be just like each other." She clenches her fists, leaning forward. "Do you have any siblings, Polly?"

I rub my forehead. "Not that I know of."

"If you did, would you expect all of them to be running around shouting themselves hoarse and doing their hair up in horns?"

I slouch. "No. But I already know the Gavins aren't superficially that similar. I mean, if I met him under different circumstances, I might not think anything of it. But, like you said, non-Career tributes snap and kill, too. And there's a precedent for that in his family." Exhaling, I straighten up. "And then I just don't like him very much. But none of that means I'd be okay with killing him, all right? I'm glad you're looking out for me, but there's nothing to worry about."

She looks down at her toes. "Okay."

Folding my arms, I let out another breath and catch her eye. "How about this? You don't want to hurt anyone, either, right?" She nods, and I smile. "We're going to be allies, so why not hold each other accountable while we're at it? If you think I'm close to crossing the line, tell me. And I'll do the same for you."

She smiles. "I like it. I'll..." She puts her hands together in a twinge of nervousness. "I'll try not to accuse you of anything you haven't done."

"Deal." I hold out a hand, and she pauses before taking off her glove and shaking on it.

She covers her hand again in silence before I tilt the brim of her hat to see her face better. "So, what about you? Doing all right?"

"Yeah." Her eyes light up as she turns toward me. "I wouldn't be very professional if I buckled under every stressful situation! In fact—" she hops off the bed, spinning on her heel until she's facing me again—"want to see another trick?"

I lean back on my elbows. "Sure."

Smiling, she puts one hand barely behind her back. I steel myself for another appearance of the panties, but I'm not prepared for the man suddenly springing out from behind her.

"Aaaaaugh!" I just manage to avoid jumping off the bed altogether as the figure spins in a whirlwind of blue cape and swipes Trucy's hat onto its own head. "Wh-wh-what the heck is that!?"

She grins. "Surprised?"

...I'm never getting rid of either of my dumb nicknames, am I?

"This is one of my best tricks: The Amazing Mr. Hat!" She moves the hand behind her back, and the giant wooden puppet-thing opens and closes its mouth as it "speaks." "_You look mahvelous, dahling!_"

I toss away one of the pillows that fell onto me during my shock reaction.

"He's a big hit on stage where I work!" And Mr. Hat's turn again. "_Yes. I am a big hit. Ha ha ha._"

"W..." My feet are on the floor anyway, so I stand up. "Where did he even come from?!" I feint to her side, and she hops back.

"Oh, come on, Polly! Professional magicians don't reveal their secrets!"

I grin. "Then I guess I have to take matters into my own hands!" I swoop around her other side.

"Eep!" She spins, cape fluttering. I seize its edge, but the silk slips through my fingers. Bouncing on her feet, she shows her teeth. "You're going to have to try harder than that!"

"All right, then!" I charge her outright, but she dodges, leaving me inches from smacking my head right into Mr. Hat's torso. We circle each other for another minute before Trucy turns and bolts out of the door. Mr. Hat's cape billows enough I can barely even see Trucy's head, let alone wherever that puppet came from. I dash after her, following the jagged edge of the cape into the common room.

For some reason, not a soul is here.

"Looking for someone?" Trucy's head pops over the edge of the couch.

"Ah!" I run toward her, but I should have known. Mr. Hat has vanished into the ether, leaving the hat back on Trucy's crown.

"Ack! I..." I slam my fists onto the top of the couch. "I'm going to figure out the truth behind that trick if it's the last thing I do!"

Trucy giggles. "Good luck!"

"What on earth are you two doing?"

That confused voice could only belong to the escort. Sure enough, when I turn around, he's standing just outside his room, peering our way.

"S-sorry, Your Honor." I can feel my shoulders hunch as I grin sheepishly. "Are we being too loud?"

"Goodness, no!" He pulls his hands back. "Do stay occupied, for all our sakes, Mr. Justice."

Hey, it's not like I've been doing Chords of Steel nonstop! Most of it has been on the roof, too.

"I was wondering..." The escort frowns. "Is either of you any good with technology? I seem to have accidentally pressed a few buttons in my room, and... the area is no longer suitable for sleeping."

Trucy hops to her feet. "I bet Polly can fix it!"

...I would thank her for her faith in my abilities if I didn't suspect she had an ulterior motive.

"Sure thing." I start towards his room.

"Good night," calls Trucy before I pass the threshold.

I nod, smiling. "Good night."


	13. All Planned out

Somehow I managed to sleep like a rock last night. I'm not complaining. I'll take any rest I can get at this point.

Although getting my interview outfit ready is dull, it's no opportunity to take a nap. The costume is still solar-panel-based, this time with a red tint rather than a blue one. I can work with that. It's still nothing sensible, but at least my stylist lets me roll up the sleeves.

Once I'm all spiffed up and ready to go, I'm sent downstairs to the lobby area. The interviews will be just outside the Training Center, although I've been assured the weather is never an issue. I guess creating disasters in the arena is only one side of the technology they have here.

I'm not sure how many are gathering outside, but there aren't many tributes hanging around the foyer yet. There's so little to the District 4 girl's outfit that it couldn't have taken too long to put together. The pink star stenciled over her eye seems like it would be more time-consuming, but, then again, I don't really have any idea what I'm talking about.

"Hey." She glances over at me, one of her hands still making some sign I don't recognize. "What's up?"

"Nothing!" I look away, feeling my face heat up.

Her laugh doesn't have an evil ring to it despite her district. "Your face is r-EEL-y red, you know!"

I have to find someone else to talk to...

"Aw, don't worry about it. You might want to calm down before your interview, though. Unless you want your face to match your tr-outfit."

"I'm fine, thanks." Just as I'm going to risk bugging Ema, the elevator dings. I spin on my heel to watch the doors open, and—thank goodness—Athena steps out. She's in a bright yellow dress whose skirt fans out at even the slightest turn.

"Hey! Athena!" Not about to wait for her to cross over here, I scurry ahead. "Good evening!"

She jumps a bit but steps out of the elevator smiling. "Good evening. How are you?"

"I'm fine!" I'm sure she can hear that I'm a little on-edge at the moment, but as long as she doesn't feel like running a Mood Matrix on me... Hey, wait a second.

I squint at her. "No Widget?"

"Ah. No, not tonight." She sighs, hands on her hips. "I have to get used to not wearing him, anyway, so it's no big deal."

"What do you mean?" I press on my forehead. "You get to take a district token with you."

She taps at her earring. "I think I'll just take this. It would be great to have Widget, but I hear they usually render electronics completely useless before they let them in the arena. To keep them from being an unfair advantage." She clenches her fists, looking ready to wail into the skies. "Can you image them gutting Widget?! The poor baby!"

"I see." I guess it would be kind of pointless to have your digital companion with you if he's just an empty shell. I wonder if they'll try to do anything to my bracelet? It _is _kind of heavy, but I don't think it would qualify as a weapon. What would they do to it? Shave off the outside until it's light enough? That would take away the design on it, but... I don't know how I would feel about that. It would be desecrating my only clue to my true identity, but it's not much of a clue at that.

Although now, with the way it helps me to Perceive things... Is that what it's designed to do? Is it something that I inherited? But Trucy's the one that taught me. Maybe the skill isn't that unique.

"Hey! Earth to Apollo!"

"Huh?" I look up at Athena to find Clay standing in her place. "Agh!" Jumping back against my will, I huff and straighten my tie. "What?!"

Snorting with laughter, he takes a step back. "Just seeing if you were still in there somewhere."

"I zoned out for ten seconds. Calm down."

"All right, all right." He slaps me on the back. "Ready for the interviews?"

I nod. "My angle's not too hard to pull off, especially after practicing for so long."

"Great."

Athena, to Clay's left now, punches into her empty palm. "So let's all knock them dead! Komm schon!"

Clay eyes me sideways, putting his hand up so Athena can't see his mouth. "She keeps doing this babbling thing, and no one has any idea what she means."

"Ha!" Athena rests her hands on her hips again. "That was just a little German. I've dabbled in most of the Capitol-approved languages, actually. Bet I know more than anyone else in the district!"

Clay shrugs. "More than me, that's for sure."

Athena grins.

I watch the crescent moon of her earring swing a few times. "Are you going to be okay in front of so many people?"

Her gaze slips over to me. "I'd better be!" Her hands crinkle the fabric at her hips a little. "I smuggled some of those high-quality earplugs out of my room, so that ought to take care of the audience."

I pause. "Will you be able to hear your interview questions, then?"

"Don't worry." Clay smooths out his collar. "We already practiced this. She can still hear someone right next to her, no problem."

"Okay, good." I take a few steps back when the elevator dings, and other others follow me. The lobby's starting to fill up now. The pair from 1 walk past us without a glance, while Sasha's finally occupied talking to her district partner, although she seems serious for once.

"Naw, man," the big guy says, voice low. "You don't have to worry about me. I wouldn't tell anybody."

"Thanks." She grins. "Might mess up the betting if word got out, huh?"

Clay, letting out a breath through his lips, draws my attention. "Back on the subject of district tokens..." He runs a hand through his hair. "I can't decide whether to bring my visor or my jacket. They didn't let me wear either of them for my costume, so it's not like the audience associates either with me." He smiles. "What do you guys think?"

"Hmm." Athena starts tapping on her earring again.

"The jacket would be useful in just about any arena if you can get away with bringing it." I shrug. "But the visor would keep the sun out of your eyes, and you're less likely to receive one in the first place."

Clay snorts. "So I have to choose one that gives me an advantage? I thought that was against the rules."

I pin my hair spikes down under my hand. "Well... The jacket looks pretty cool, too, if you'd rather make that your reasoning."

"That might go over better with the Gamemakers. Athena?"

She blinks. "Sure. I like the jacket just fine."

"The jacket it is." Clay stretches his arms back before bringing them back around into a clap. "I'm going to get in line. Still a little early, but I've had enough of being run over by everybody getting off the elevator."

"Good point." I give him a nod. "See you later, then."

And with those words, I realize the next time I see him will be in the arena.

"Uh, hey!" I grab his arm before he gets too far. "You guys want to hang out on the roof after the interviews?"

Clay hesitates, and I get the feeling he's figured it out, too. "Sounds good to me."

"The roof?" Athena's eyes widen. "We can all get to the roof?"

With a weak laugh, Clay rubs the back of his neck. "Did I never tell you that...?"

"No!"

"Well, we can all get to the roof." Grinning, he rocks back on his heels.

"Now I've got to make up for lost time!" She clenches her fists. "Let's make it an outright party! I'll bring Junie and her friends, and you'll get Trucy there, too, right?"

Do I have a choice but to nod?

"Great! And Klavier and Ema..." She frowns. "And maybe Simon, if he won't try to turn everything serious on us."

I'm still kind of lost. "Sure."

Clay thrusts a fist into the air. "This sounds awesome! Anybody got some streamers or balloons?"

"Of course not." I snort. "We could order a bunch of food in our rooms and bring that, though."

With a little hop, Athena clasps her hands together over her shoulder. "This is getting better and better!"

"Everybody looks so excited!" Trucy pops up at my right. "What's going on, and can I get in on it?"

"We're... throwing a party." I smile. "On the roof tonight. Want to be the entertainment?"

She fists her hands. "Would I!"

We try to work out a few more things before it's obvious we're the last to get into line. With quick see-yas, we take our places and start toward the stage.

Although I guess I should be paying attention to the competition, I don't find myself focusing on the other interviews too much. Throwing a party on the rooftop... It's absurd, but it sounds like a lot of fun regardless.

We won't get in trouble or anything, right? I mean, we're all competitors, but the viewers don't mind seeing friendships play out, so why should the Gamemakers care? We're not going to be televised after the interviews, anyway; if this is sending too threatening a message of camaraderie, then all they have to do is not go out of their way to put it in the news. As long as nobody gets hurt, this can't cause any scandals.

All right, then! We're throwing a party! Ha!

Athena gets through her interview with only a bit of twitching, and everyone else seems to be shining just fine. I have to cross my arms to keep my hands from shaking when it's my turn, but being in front of an audience isn't all that hard. I'm only going over the questions I practiced yesterday. So what if people are watching? They're supposed to be.

Although my throat really wants to stay dry, I get through my interview without mincing any words. Well, any that I'm not supposed to for effect.

Okay, so I'll need to get some food together. Can't go wrong with chips. Might as well get some fancy stuff while I have the chance, too. Maybe not steak or anything, but hors d'oeuvres? I think you can order some of that kind of stuff.

Do we need any games? What could we do with things we have in our rooms? We might be able to bring a television set up there, if there's anything we want to watch. Maybe I'll ask Clay right after we're done here. We shouldn't need more than one screen for anything, after all.

It seems like there's going to be a lot of people... But it was kind of Athena's idea, so she must be fine with it. She has her earplugs, anyway.

The other tributes' voices stay faded in the background of my thoughts until the noise stops altogether. I look up to see Juniper at the microphone.

"I... guess there is one."

"Really? What's his name?"

Such a look of utter horror crosses her face that the interviewer jerks the microphone back to himself. "Okay, no names. Can you at least tell us what he's like?"

"Well..." Flushing, she twists a finger in her hair, which is down in loose curls today, and beams. "His smile is like the warm rays of the sun shining down on peaceful woodlands, and he's so strong and kind, just like the trees of the forest!" She sighs quietly, pushing her bangs back in the middle for a moment.

"He sounds _wonderful_. Are you sure you can't tell us who he is? Just the first letter of his name?"

She frowns. "Oh, no! He's watching. He'd be able to figure it out from that." She twirls another lock of hair around her finger. "After all, he's really smart, too..."

"I see. Well, whoever he is, I hope you'll fight hard to come back home to him."

She cringes, although she recovers so quickly I could have imagined it. Swallowing to stifle a cough, she puts on her serious face again. "Of course."

Is it... that she doesn't want to fight? Or that fighting in order to get home would defeat the purpose? I'm not sure. All I can tell is that she looks unwell for the rest of her interview, although she does a good job of concealing it.

I bet the party could cheer her up. I'll convince her to come myself.


	14. Like It's 1999

It takes very little convincing to get Juniper interested in the party, so I leave Robin and Hugh to her and hurry back to my room. I hope the machinery won't mind me ordering a ton of food at once. It hasn't failed before, but if anything could break it, it would be this.

It gives me two arms' worth of finger food without any trouble, though, so I check my hair, load up the snacks, and make for the staircase. I go up one flight before a door slams open somewhere below me. Keeping all of the food close to my center, I peek over the railing.

"Hey, Apollo!" Athena only cranes her neck to look up at me for a second before all I can see is the tip of her ponytail. She progresses up the stairs at an alarming rate—especially considering her performance at the reaping—to catch up with me. She's still in her interview outfit, although she's slipped Widget on since. I don't think she ordered any of the same food as me, although she seems to have a small table tucked under one arm besides the refreshments. My surprise at her not falling over the handrail doubles.

"Are you ready for this?!" Her load restricts her movement, but she still bounces.

I grin, nudging the bowl of chips before it starts to tilt off my shoulder. "You bet. Let's hope we can make it up there with all of this."

"Yeah." She starts up the next few steps. "Have you run into anyone else yet?"

"No. Either they're still getting ready, or they're trying to sneak onto District 12's floor with the elevator."

"Hmm. Doesn't sound too safe."

I snort, leaning against the rail as I ascend. "Neither does this."

"True."

We make it to the roof with minimal losses, although I have to set a few bowls down to open the door.

It's surprisingly well-lit outside. Not only are the buildings around this one lit up, but there are also small orbs of light spread across the roof. Once I walk out into the middle of things, I can see Ema with an armful of them.

"Oh, Ema!" I set my food down on a table-like surface—for an air conditioner, maybe.

She turns, clearly in a better mood than the last time I saw her. "Hey. How are you?"

"Good, thanks."

Athena sets up her table and starts arranging our food, so I approach Ema. "Where did you get those?"

"The room." She looks between the two closest lights a few times before setting another one down precisely. "We have access to a whole lot of nightlights, apparently."

"Huh." I hadn't thought of that. "Need some help?"

"Well... Okay." She thrusts the rest into my arms before I'm quite ready. "You carry them." She adjusts the glasses on her head with a smile. "I'll keep placing them myself. I've worked out scientifically where to place each one to light up the rooftop with maximum efficiency."

When did she have time to do that? Did I really take that long re-gelling my hair? Maybe she's just pretty quick with this kind of stuff.

I follow her, and we get the rest of the lights set up by the time Robin has arrived with food and drink. Hugh's right behind her with more bottles and cups, while Juniper only carries a platter of fruit slices and cream cheese. Once Klavier arrives, I can't seem to locate Ema. Trucy's back in her normal—well, normal for her—garb by the time she joins us, and Jinxie comes in behind her. A few tributes are still filtering in when my district partner claims one open stretch of roof for her stage and starts to gather a crowd. Klavier sets up with a guitar on one of the raised areas, adjusting the lights nearby so he can see the instrument better. Or so we can see him better.

I grab a few things from the snack area and go to Trucy's show. Even with completely makeshift equipment, excepting the props I've already seen, she shines bright. Some card tricks, her magic panties—again—and Mr. Hat. Along with some more traditional tricks and plenty of twirling, it's quite a show.

She declares an intermission and heads for the refreshments, although she only gets a cup of punch before drifting over to Klavier. Robin, the girl from 6, and Jinxie are hanging around there already. In addition to strumming the guitar that I assume came from one of the infinite drawers in the Training Center rooms, he sings. I don't recognize the song, but it has a nice melody to it.

A clink behind me draws my attention, and I turn to see Hugh approaching with a few bottles in hand. He tosses one to Robin and waits for the end of the song before offering Klavier one.

The 7 narrows his eyes at the drink. "Is that alcoholic?"

"Clearly."

Klavier waves it away. "I'm only seventeen."

Hugh frowns. "What on earth does that have to do with anything?"

He snaps slowly as he talks. "Eighteen is drinking age in District 7."

"Perhaps a simpleton as yourself has yet to notice, but we are not in District 7."

"I realize that." He stares at the bottle in confusion for a minute before taking it. "Danke." He sets it by his side unopened and gives his guitar a few absentminded strums before smiling at the girls. "Any requests?"

"Hmm." Trucy folds her arms. "I'm not sure that I know any District 7 songs."

Had he been playing a song from his district? I wasn't paying much attention to the lyrics, but I think there _was_ something about trees in there.

"Music transcends all borders, Fräulein Magician. Start singing something from your own district, and I can pick up on the tune."

"Me, sing?" She smiles. "But your voice is so much lovelier than mine."

"Hold on! I know!" Robin turns around, the ruffles of her fancy suit fluttering. "JUNIPEEEEER!"

And people complain about _me_ being loud.

The girl at the refreshment area jumps. "Wh-what?"

Robin grins at us, leaning forward with her hands clasped behind her back. "Juniper's singing voice is G-R-E-A-T!" She punctuates the letters with a shake of the pointer finger.

Juniper has come to join us by now, although she's clearly not sure what's going on.

"You've heard her singing?" Trucy asks.

"Of course!" Robin loosely covers her mouth with her fingers. "We've been friends for a while, you know."

"Really?" Athena has come onto the scene now, iced cookie in hand.

"Yeah. But anyway!" Robin spins on her heel to face her district partner. "Juniper! Klavier's open to requests now, so you should totally sing something! Maybe that one song from from the harvest festival?"

"O-oh, um..." Juniper pulls the brim of her hat, which she must have gone back to get after the interviews, down over her face. "That's okay..."

"COME ON, MAAAAAAN!" Robin spins with a giggle. "It'll be fun!"

"I don't believe I've heard you sing yet." Hugh adjusts his glasses with one hand, a glint coming off the glass. "Perhaps I won't be disappointed."

"Yeah, Junie." Athena flashes her a peace sign. "You're just singing with some friends! Nothing to be scared of!"

Juniper clasps her hands together in front of her chest, her eyes flicking from side to side. "Well..."

"Now you've gotten us all curious." I smile. "I'd love to hear you sing, if it's not too hard on you."

"Okay." She drops her hands to her sides with a hesitant smile and steps toward Klavier. Athena chuckles, but when I give her a look, she just laughs harder. What is she so tickled about?

After some exchange with Klavier and a bit more hesitation, Juniper begins to sing. Robin wasn't exaggerating. She really is great. To be honest, I don't think I've heard as much music as the average person, but she still has a clearer voice than anyone I can think of.

Her final note, in a chord with the guitar, trails off, and her eyes dart around the crowd. When she glances my way, her eyes widen, and I only have time to tilt my head to the side before I'm attacked.

Knocked off-balance, I stagger to stay upright, though it's hard to stand straight with weight pressing down on my shoulders.

"Hey, Apollo! Having fun?"

I get my bearings and crane my neck to see Clay with one arm over my shoulders.

"Hey! I was wondering where you'd run off to."

He takes a step back, holding up something rectangular in his hands. "I thought I'd grab something, but it was harder to find than I thought. Could they cram any more buttons in those bedrooms?" He grins. "Kind of fun to mess with, actually. But anyway, I'm pretty sure this is a camera. Who's up for taking some dumb pictures?"

"Pretty sure?" I echo as Athena seizes his wrist. He releases his cargo, which is about the right size for a camera but unfeasibly thin.

She scrutinizes it for a minute before nodding as its screen flashes white. "It's a camera, all right." She swings it up in front of her eyes. "Say cheese, Clay!"

W-wait, I'm still in the frame!

I quickly smile and sling an arm over Clay's far shoulder since he hasn't pulled his other arm off me yet. Might as well be symmetrical.

Either the flash is slow or Athena didn't mind waiting a few seconds, but the camera clicks, and she squints at the bright screen before hopping in joy. "Great! Now it's my turn... Junie!"

"Ah?" Juniper blinks before stepping toward us. "Sure." She holds a hand out to take the camera.

"No, silly! You're going to be in it with me! Apollo, here." Athena throws me the camera, which I proceed to drop. Clay manages to snatch it before it hits my feet.

"Let's try that again." He tosses it back to me. With our hands less than a foot apart, it's a much easier catch.

"Thanks." I risk a glance around to see if anyone's laughing at me, but they seem polite enough at the moment.

Luckily, all it takes to snap a photo is tapping the camera screen, so I take Athena's and Juniper's picture easily. From there, it's a group shot with Juniper, Robin, and Hugh. Klavier takes one with the 6 girl, who introduces herself as Constance. More group pictures, Trucy swiping the camera for some candid shots, a trick photo of Athena preparing to squish Clay between her fingers.

The camera continues to make the rounds as the party continues, Trucy resuming her magic show, Klavier playing something complicated without vocals, a television on the other side of the stairwell showing a sketch comedy show. The refreshment table grows more and more pathetic as we chip away at it, and Trucy concludes her performance to raucous applause. It doesn't feel as late as it probably is, but a few tributes start trickling back to their bedrooms, and it's clear that the party is unofficially coming to a close.

Clay takes one last shot with Ema before heading back this way. "Hey, Klavier?"

Klavier sets down his bottle of water. "Yes?"

"Well—" Clay spins the camera in his hands—"I'm not sure what will happen to this if I put it back in my room, so... Maybe you could give it to your brother for safekeeping?"

Klavier frowns. "Why my brother?"

"You know." Clay stares off at the rows of night lights, now hopelessly knocked out of order. "I kind of wanted to save this for later. No matter which of us is going to… want it." His voice has quieted a bit. "Better a mentor than an escort, since he'd get to interact with a Victor from any district. And your brother seems pretty organized, so..."

Ah… Is that why he looked so hard for the camera? To have some record of us being happy? No, we've all had some moments of happiness caught on camera. But this was us being friends. Having a good time together, arena or no arena. It probably wouldn't go over well with the Capitol. No wonder he doesn't want to risk stowing it away in his room.

If I do make it out… I would want that. I… can't imagine how painful it would be to look back on this night from that point. But it would be nice to remember that we've done this. That any of us hurting each other isn't because we wanted to, but because we were forced to.

"I see." Klavier tugs at his bangs. "It's a good idea; I won't deny that. I'm… only not sure that Kristoph would be the best one to keep an eye on it. He may see fit to meddle with it. Victors are not to be sentimental about their competitors, after all." A scowl splits his face until he seems to notice us again. He smiles instantly. "What about your own mentor?"

Clay grimaces, shaking his head. "I can't force him to think about the Games any more than he already has to. I'm not calling him unfit as a mentor, but... he still has a condition, and I don't want him to be around Victors more than he'd be willing to push himself."

"Here." I hold out a hand. "I'm sure Ms. Fey would take good care of it."

"You think so?" The 3 pauses for a moment, probably trying to remember more about Maya. "All right." He smiles, handing it over. "Don't drop it on your way there."

"Right, right." I slip it into my vest pocket and look back up at him. He takes a moment to glance at the sky before turning his gaze down. It's cloudy tonight. I can barely even make out where the moon is, let alone any stars.

I put a hand on his shoulder. "You doing okay?"

Startled, he blinks a few times before giving me a small smile. "Yeah, man. I'm fine." He grins. "How about you?"

I smile. "I'm fine, too!"


	15. Disorder

Author's Note: Just wanted to take a second to thank my reviewers, Lord Axxingtons, White Weasel, and Obiwanlivesforever! It's great to know that someone besides me is enjoying this.

* * *

><p>I am not going to throw up. I am <em>not<em> going to throw up.

I take a deep breath and pull my jacket on. It only has a little fuzz on the inside, but it warms me up pretty quickly, anyway. Unlike the rest of the neutral grey outfit, it's a dark red. Probably not great for disguise.

My stylist checks on me as I'm brushing my teeth. "You didn't have time to do your hair this morning?"

I spit. "Was I supposed to?" I didn't even have time for Chords of Steel, aside from what I got in on the hovercraft ride.

"No, actually." With a cat-like grin, he steps up next to me. Between that and my general situation, I can't be blamed for getting a few goosebumps. I finish up my brushing and turn to see him holding up a small white squeeze tube.

Should I be scared?

"It's just hair gel. Well, maybe not 'just.' " He starts to spin the cap off. "This should last you three whole days if you don't get it wet. After that, well…" He shrugs as he coaxes some of the gel onto his fingertips. "I'd send the rest in with you if it weren't against the rules."

"Oh! No, that's fine. Even this is more than I had hoped for."

I aid him in setting up my hair spikes, and he slicks them up.

"Well, with any luck, they'll have some in the arena. They've had quite a few toiletries in the Cornucopia before."

"Yeah, that would be great." Maybe I won't be able to snatch any food, medicine, shelter, or weapons, but I might find hair gel! O joy!

"All right." He taps the water faucet on with his elbow and rinses his hands with soap and water. "Does your outfit feel okay?"

I stretch and walk around a bit. Overall, it feels normal enough, but the thickness of the socks cushions my steps really well. "Yes."

"Great." He claps his hands, and they stay together. I'm not sure if it's intentional. "The best of luck to you, Apollo. It's been a pleasure to work with you, and I hope we can continue after this."

"Thank you."

He leads me to my starting plate, leaving me to focus on my breathing until the P.A. announces launch time. A clear cylinder comes down around me, and I take the chance to start shouting hard.

"I'm Apollo Justice and I'm fine!"

The plate ascends, the darkness above me approaching.

"I'm Apollo Justice and I'm fine!"

I just need to scope out the arena, figure out what supplies I need, and grab them.

"I'm Apollo Justice and I'm fine!"

And then get out of there. Trucy or some other allies will follow me, or the other way around; whatever happens happens.

"I'm Apollo Justice and I'm fine!"

I can see daylight above me, so I clench my jaw shut and brace myself. It's just the initial rush for supplies. I can handle this!

The next booming voice doesn't belong to me. "Ladies and gentlemen, let the Twenty-First Annual Hunger Games begin!"

I have sixty seconds to analyze the scene. Let's go!

Between me and the Cornucopia is a wet, grassy area. There are patches of mud around, so I don't think out-and-out sprinting is the best idea. I'll probably leave footprints on the rocks when all is said and done, too. There's a stream ahead and to my right that could wash my shoes clean, but others may have the same idea, and I'm not high enough up to judge the depth of the water. I'll grab my supplies and run for the mountain straight behind me. I could be followed for a while, but that won't be any different for most of the other tributes.

All right. Supplies, then. Just ahead of me is a large, shrink-wrapped clipboard with paper. Taking notes would be nice, I could use some tinder, and it won't be too heavy. Past that is a leathery bag that isn't very tall but has some thickness to it. No way to tell what's inside, but containers are good, and I'm sure the contents are worth it.

The only Career anywhere near me is Simon, who may or may not kill me on the spot. I'm honestly not sure. But he's to my right, so if I hang left, I should still have time to grab a few more things—

The gong sounds, and I pelt for the clipboard. The ground is about as solid as I predicted, so I try to get more grass under my steps for friction. The clipboard's easy to pick up, and I press it to my chest as I make for the knapsack. Still no competition, although this thing is pretty heavy. I throw it over one shoulder and locate the nearest supplies. A megaphone on one side and some rope and bungee cords on the other. I go for the latter.

Somewhere I can sense the noise coming from all sides, but I have to stay focused. No one is behind me, although the megaphone has shifted since I last checked. Swallowing, I charge ahead to the next patch of supplies. Water purification tablets, a sword about the same size as the one I practiced with, a packet of vacuum-sealed bandages.

A soiled patch of cloth on my right catches my eye before I look just past it.

Clay is lying face-up with a knife handle sticking out of his chest.

I stare at the wound for I'm not sure how long before I scramble over to him, dropping by supplies as I kneel next to him. "Clay!"

He doesn't respond, and my hands are shaking when I look closer at the knife. It's sunk in to the hilt right about where his heart is, and blood is staining his shirt from the inside, though it hasn't reached the surface of his personal jacket. I—! I-I have to stop it...!

"Clay! _Clay!_ H-hang in there!"

I— I have to—!

I grab the knife handle to get it out of the way, but it's stuck on his jacket. Choking, I tug at the jacket, too, taking it off his left side along with the knife. I slip it off his right arm, too, and find a cleaner spot of the cloth to press down on the wound with.

I just... I stop the bleeding first! And then—! I-I stop the bleeding first... Is this okay?! Am I doing it right?

Panting, I lift the jacket up for a second to check, and there doesn't seem to be any more blood.

Okay, I don't think he's bleeding. I... Should he be bleeding? Maybe he should?!

"Clay?" It's a struggle to still my hand enough to pull up one of his pale eyelids. He doesn't look at me. His pupil doesn't even shrink from the daylight.

Th-that's bad, right? Am I—Did I do this wrong? I...!

_"Apollo!"_

A female voice pierces my eardrums, and I have a hazy feeling she's been shouting for a while.

"We have to get out of here!" She pulls at my shoulders, and from the shadow that falls across the ground, I can pick out Trucy's hat.

Get out...? But Clay...!

I glance back at him and go numb. He's dead. Of course he's dead. What on earth have I been doing?!

Trucy shrieks as something clangs behind her. I whip around to see her holding up a shield as a throwing knife glances off it. She gives me a wide-eyed look of urgency, and I scramble to gather my supplies as she snatches the knife.

_"Come on!" _I've lost all sense of volume, but my throat is nearly raw just from that as I turn toward the mountain ahead. She doesn't wait for another clue before sprinting ahead of me, and I hurry after her, my mouth so dry I can barely breathe. Am I even breathing? I-I'm not sure...

I don't even register the time or distance passing. I just keep going. Away from the danger, away from... Clay's corpse...!

Holy...

How...? Who? Who would do this to him?!

Clay is dead... No! He's—He's supposed to make it to the stars...!

The thought hits me that his death is better for my own survival, but I feel sick enough already.

My feet slip from under me. I'm carrying too much to stop myself, so the best I can do is brace for impact.

"Polly!"

Trucy grabs the back of my jacket, but my weight only makes her stagger before I hit the ground. Jaw ramming into the bag, I shout and try to keep my grip on everything as I slide down. I don't know if it's Trucy's doing or if the slope just isn't that steep, but I come to a stop before anything more than the bandages go rolling out of my arms.

Gasping for breath, I blink my eyes open and try to figure out where I am. A grey-brown boulder is in front of my face, many like it spread around. I must have bounded up these earlier. Farther ahead, the mountain becomes a more unified wall. About five feet up, a faint red mark crosses the stone. Suddenly I register the stinging by my eye.

"Are you okay?" Trucy pulls on my elbow to help me up.

"I'm fine." I wipe at the skin between my left eye and hairline, but the bleeding is clearly nothing to worry about. The throb in my head from the impact is still fading, but I couldn't have broken anything. "Are we still alone?"

I catch my voice breaking at the end, but I'm still unprepared when I break into sobs.

"Apollo?!" Trucy quickly but gently probes at my scrape and the bruise forming under my jaw, but I wave her off.

"I'm fine..." The bag starts to slip away, but I grab a shoulder strap just in time. "I-I'm not hurt."

My tears spill over quickly enough to keep my vision from getting too blurry. I cover my mouth as if that's going to stop me—then I notice that the large flap on top of the backpack is open. I can make out a few scrunched-up folds of Clay's jacket inside. I must have crammed it in without thinking... Like everything else I was doing...

Trucy hugs me around the shoulders. "Do you... need to stay here for a while?"

I gasp for breath at the wrong moment and start coughing. "We're s-still close? Aren't... we?"

Her hair swings, brushing my ear, as she nods.

I... I have to get a hold of myself...!

"I'm..." But I can't be too loud. We're too close to the Cornucopia, and other tributes... They'll hear us, a-and that probably won't end well.

"C-come on!" I jump to my feet, knocking Trucy off, but she recovers as I lunge for the bandages and shove them into the backpack. "Let's go!" I throw the clipboard and tablets in before slinging the thing onto my shoulders. Fastening the sword at my waist, I cover my mouth with my hand and try to keep it down.

"I'm Apollo Justice and I'm fine. I'm Apollo Justice and I'm fine."

But it's hard to clamber over the rocks with both hands occupied, so I tuck the bungee ropes under my arm and let go of my mouth.

"I'm Apollo Justice and I'm fine..."

"Polly?" Trucy puts her hand on my shoulder, digging something out from under her jacket. "I can carry that for a while." Slipping the shield higher up on her arm, she offers me a thick blanket, mostly clean and mostly folded into a square. "This might help muffle your voice."

I manage to release a breath. "Thank you." We trade, and I start shouting into the blanket.

I have to calm down. I... What is the Capitol going to think of me? I can't lose sponsors just because I... I can't handle a friend's death without crying? I'm supposed to just get over it?! How on earth could anyone...?!

But how am I supposed to win the Games if I can't even...?!

Augh! I don't care!

_I'm Apollo Justice and I'm fine!_


	16. Blind Search

It still hasn't gotten too steep to walk when we come to a hole in the mountainside. Abrupt, it has an arched top and a smooth floor inside, at least until the shadows obscure it. It's more than wide enough for Trucy and me to enter at the same time, which only makes it more suspicious. It's some form of shelter and concealment. What kind of traps will it have?

"What do you think?" Trucy tries to peek in before turning back to me.

"Going in can't be a good idea." I swallow. "We'll keep it in mind if we need to hide from someone, but it's too convenient to be safe."

With a sniffle, she folds her arms. "You think it's trapped? But then, what if we do want to run and hide in it? We'd definitely trigger whatever's in there."

I frown. "That's true..."

"Maybe we should check it out now, while we're kind of safe?"

"Hmm." I shut my eyes and suck in a breath before looking back at the cave entrance.

I feel Trucy's hand on my arm. "Are you doing all right?"

"I'm fine!" It's such a knee-jerk reaction I don't realize I'm shouting directly at the cave until it's too late.

...

"Y-yeah, we should probably check it out now," I say weakly, pulling myself up a few feet.

To her credit, Trucy doesn't laugh this time.

"Really, I'm okay, though." I sit down just past the edge of the opening. "I mean... Clay is gone—" not letting my voice break, not doing this again, not now—"and five more... But there's nothing I can do for them at this point. I just have to..." Not sure what I'm trying to say, I just give her a "you know what I mean" nod and look into the cave. I can't see much more from here.

"We shouldn't go in blind, that's for sure. I-I don't think I grabbed any torches." Or did I? I haven't actually checked the backpack yet.

Well, now's as good a time as any to inventory. Especially while there's still some mud and grass around to hide anything I don't need.

Letting out a breath, I shuffle past Clay's jacket and the knife first. This middle pocket has some bread and two pairs of sunglasses that don't quite look the same. The cave is dark enough as is.

I unzip the smaller pocket a little too enthusiastically, and Trucy shooshes me. I give her a nod and look into the smaller section of the bag. A rain poncho, some socks, and a box of crackers. An extra small pocket has a lighter, so I keep that in hand, but there's a flashlight back in the biggest pocket after all.

I throw the lighter back in its slot and glance at Trucy. She has the blanket tied up around her shoulders, somehow keeping the shield bound to her back. "Is that heavy? I can carry it for a while."

She smiles. "I'm all right, thanks." She arranges the motley assortment of knives in her belt and slips one into her hand. "Are you ready?"

The flashlight comes on without any trouble. "Yeah. Let's check it out."

An initial wash of light doesn't reveal anything but rocks and more smooth floor. Nothing coming for us, at least. I wonder how far it goes on.

Trucy brings up the rear as I step inside, trying to keep my footsteps from echoing all over the place. You'd think it would be hard with these huge boots, but it stays surprisingly quiet in here.

I don't even have to duck as I creep along, sweeping the light beam across all surfaces to find traps. I'm sure I'd be able to see something if it was there. As it is, all I've found are some spiders and a handful of bats that Trucy calls cute.

A tunnel branches off at my left. It's not as big as the main area, although I could still get in without ducking.

Trucy peeks around my shoulder as I pause at the entrance. "What do you think?"

"Well, we're trying to scope the place out, right?" I prod at my forehead. "Might as well check this part for traps, too."

I take a step in. "If it branches off again, then we'll have to figure out how to not get lost..."

Trucy nods, and I lead us in, aiming the flashlight at all angles as I go in. What look like windowsills—aside from the lack of an opening—line the walls, but I can't make out anything else odd. It could be useful for shelving. Maybe we could shelter here tonight, if the place checks out.

Half a minute in, the tunnel goes black.

"Eep!" Trucy seizes my arm with hands as I gasp and fiddle with the flashlight switch. No dice. I try shaking the handle, but that doesn't do anything for me, either.

Despite my heightened perception, I can't do any better than anyone else in total darkness. I wonder if even the cameras can see me.

Huh... Maybe I could get away with crying for a little bit...

No! We're sitting ducks in here. We need to at least get somewhere we can run.

Shuffling through my backpack by feel, I replace the flashlight with the lighter and flick it open. The little flame doesn't illuminate much of anything. I can't even make out the details of Trucy's face.

I guess I could try to dump whatever's in the lighter on some bandages for accelerant, but... Is there even liquid in here? And I'm supposed to let the cloth soak for a while before trying to light it...

"Forget it!" I hand Trucy the lighter, put an arm around her, and start walking ahead. "We've already checked out this much. It should still be fine."

"Right," she whispers. I shrink at how loudly I've been "sneaking" around as she shuts off the lighter. If anyone has heard, I guess we don't want them to see us. I haven't noticed any footfalls but ours, though.

With a quicker pace, it doesn't take long to get to the main tunnel. I take a right and tentatively run a hand across the wall. I'm sure I'm headed the right way, although I can't see the light. The path must be a little crooked.

Or the entire environment up and changes sometimes. I really wish that wasn't a reasonable theory.

My hand brushes something warm. I freeze, feeling hair under my fingertips before finally getting the presence of mind to snatch my hand away. "Aaah!"

I nearly shove Trucy to the far wall before I just push her behind me and take a step back.

"Polly? What is it?"

"Oh, it's you two."

That voice...!

I feel behind me for Trucy's hand, but she catches on and flicks the lighter open. I'd have to thrust it right in front of the other tribute's face to recognize him, but the gleam off his sunglasses is identification enough.

"Klavier?"

He must be sitting, although I still can't make out much of anything. I think he's turned to the side a bit, to to keep his legs against the side of the cave, or something. I would have run him over otherwise.

With a chuckle, he adjusts his bangs—probably because I just messed them up. "That was an... interesting way to run into you, Herr Forehead."

"...What was that?" I have enough nicknames for a lifetime. Please don't add another one. "Never mind. What the heck are you doing in here?"

He tilts his head back. "Resting. I'm afraid Fräulein Scientist isn't doing so well at the moment."

Now that he mentions it, I can pick out another faint gleam next to him. Does Ema still have her weird sunglasses on her head?

"What happened?" I ask as Trucy shuffles around to my right, in front of Ema.

Klavier's voice is hard. "The bloodbath. What else?"

A pang goes through my stomach at that, but now is not the time to go back into mourning.

"I'm okay, though..." The faint crackle of Ema's voice isn't very convincing. I swing the lighter closer to her, but it's no good. I can't make out any damage. I do think her eyes are closed.

A container of something—maybe in her lap—rattles. "Really, it's okay. I got the equipment. Everything's good."

"Equipment?" Trucy leans closer, the blanket on her shoulder brushing down my arm, but I don't think she gets much of a better look.

I can hear her grin in her voice. "Forensics kit. Footprints, fingerprints, bloodstains. Nothing's getting past me."

"Um..." I press on my forehead, trying to think of a response. Do we really have any need for that? It certainly doesn't seem like anything to risk your life for.

...! Although...

"Fingerprints?"

Ema stifles a grunt—I think she's moving, maybe sitting up more. "Yup. Aluminum powder kit and print profiles for every tribute here."

My hand flies behind me to my backpack. "Can I try it?"

"Sure..."

"Perhaps it would be better to do this in the light, ja?"

I flick the lighter closed since it's not doing us any good. "Of course! I didn't mean right here and now!" I sigh. "Anyway, I don't really like being in complete darkness in the heart of a mountain during a competition to the death—" right in front of a few such competitors—"so I'm going to head toward the entrance. I'm assuming it's the same one you guys came through, so you can meet us when you feel up to it."

"I'll be good in a minute." Ema lets out a shuddering breath.

"Great. Let's go, Trucy."

We make it to the entrance without incident and wait at the edge of the light. There's no reason to make our presence any more known than it is, and we can still make out anyone approaching. Well, not from too much of a distance, but we'll still be able to hear them, I'm sure.

Trucy sets her blanket and shield on the ground and sits. My feet don't ache as much as I would expect them to—must be the shoes—but I join her, keeping a hand on my sword. Maybe I should practice with this some... It can't be exactly like the one I trained with, so I wouldn't want to handle it wrong.

"Ready to rock, Herr Forehead?"

I jump—did I even hear any footsteps?—and take a step into the light once I've regained my composure. "Yeah, one second."

Kneeling, I shuffle through the correct pocket and keep shooting glances across at the others. Ema's stomach is wrapped up pretty tight. I can't see anything that's definitely blood, so either there wasn't much external bleeding or the wound is in her back. I doubt I could do much to help either way.

Although she's wobbly, she brusquely resists Klavier's efforts to steady her as she sets her kit down between the two of us.

Trucy taps her fingers on her knees, looking up at Klavier, who has a length of chain coiled and slung over his right shoulder. "So you brought the sunglasses? I was sure your necklace would be your district token."

He chuckles. "I'm afraid it never made it past the Gamemakers. Between the sharp edges and its general weightiness, it was too easy to be considered a weapon. These—" I assume he nudges his sunglasses down on his nose like he's prone to do—"were my second option."

I stop and take a deep breath as I take out Clay's jacket. I just want to know whose prints are on the knife. That's... all I'm doing right now. No need to get worked up. No need...

"You and your dumb 'image.' I appreciate that you no longer blind passersby with your jewelry..." Ema pauses for breath as she takes the clear top off the plastic bin. "But there is no reason, scientifically speaking, to wear sunglasses into a _dark_ _tunnel_, of all places."

"Are you suggesting I would see any better in there without them?"

She grumbles as she sorts through her equipment, picking out a folder, a jar, and an odd-looking brush. I have the knife ready, the blade safely buried in a few folds of fabric under my hand. She scrutinizes the handle, and I can pick out the exact moment she sees the blood.

"What..."

I brace my shoulders. "Clay. This... killed Clay...!"

I hold my breath as she looks at the floor for a minute and pushes the other equipment out of the way. "All right. Let's see what we can lift."


	17. Explain Yourself

I'm too engrossed in the fingerprinting to keep an eye on Klavier. I'm sure Trucy will warn me if he tries anything. As for Ema, she's as invested in the science as I am. She's explaining some sort of chemical binding process as we powder the first print, but she's lost me. I'm sure the theory is sound. Let's see where it leads us.

"Here, you can blow off the excess... We should be able to see the print once you do." She carefully hands the knife back to me. I wrap my fingers around the covered blade and blow at the patch of white powder. It only takes one puff to reveal a clear print among the smudges.

"Great!" I show it to Ema, who has to blink her eyes open to look. She nods, wobbling for a second before getting out the profiles.

"That close to the hilt means it's probably an index finger..." She straightens up the stack of papers and starts comparing the prints of Ted Tonate, District 1. Neither the left- nor the right-hand prints match well. So, not him.

His district partner isn't a suspect, either. No District 2, or 3... No Careers at all. But who else...? Who on earth else would ever kill him, let alone in the bloodbath?!

"Apollo? I think this one's yours."

"Huh?" I scoot closer and check over her shoulder. A few glances between the print and my paper, and I have to agree. "Great... Sorry, I wasn't really... worrying about preserving prints at the time I got this." A shiver goes through my arms, and I pull back a little bit. "Let's try a different spot."

We go over the entire handle, but all we can find are my prints, smears that also look like my prints, and one little fragment of slightly curved lines that could pretty much belong to anyone.

Ema collapses back against the cave wall with a groan, the sound a mix of disappointment and pain. "Shoot... Maybe we could I.D. some of the smears if we had the right tech." She folds her arms, her eyes shut. "You'd think if they went through all of the trouble to give us this much, they'd go ahead and provide a full system for analysis... Then again, I guess they don't put computers in here much." She sighs, reaching into the small cross-body bag at her waist and munching on some of the contents.

Klavier rolls his shoulders back with a grin. "They also put the most expensive equipment inside the Cornucopia itself."

"You think there might be one in there?" She bolts up in excitement but seems to calm down once she realized her district partner was the speaker. "Or are you trying to send me to my death?"

"Nein." He leans in towards her, his hands on his hips. "If I wanted you dead, I could have left you at the foot of the mountain."

Turning her head away from him, she grumbles, "I would have survived fine without you."

I scratch an itch on my hand to find some of the powder has spilled onto it. I sweep it off and stare at the white-ridged prints on the knife. All of them mine. I can't blame myself for erasing whatever was already there, given the circumstances... But I still hate that it turned out this way.

What would I do with that information, though? What if I knew that it was, say, Sasha who killed him? What then? Would I rest happy knowing the answer I've sought? Or would I... try to...

I won't kill anyone! But there are other ways to get justice... Even for taking an innocent person's life. I...!

Darn it, _I want to know!_

"Ema?" I slip my gaze back to her. "What else is in that box?"

"Hmm?" She takes a moment to orient herself before smirking at me. "Interested in more scientific inquiry, eh?" Leaning forward, she replaces the fingerprinting kit and pulls out a pair of glasses similar to hers.

"Is that... cleaning fluid?" I squint at the bottle in her hands as she waves the glasses at me.

"Luminol." She slides her glasses over her eyes with a smile. "It reacts to traces of blood, but you can't see the difference unless you're wearing these."

"Ooh." Trucy swipes a pair from the box and offers the last one to Klavier, who declines.

Ema laughs in an odd tone, spritzing the air above her with the Luminol. "I'm gonna... spray this on everything." Slumping, she stares at a spot above her head. Frowning, I try the glasses, but they only tint the world a dark pink. Except...!

"Your hand."

"Huh?" Ema sets down the bottle and holds both her swaying hands in front of her. I can't be imagining the specks of blue glowing on her left hand. "Oh!" She picks up the Luminol with her right and sprays the stuff on her fingers, which glow brighter as she goes on.

Trucy gasps. "Where did that come from?"

"Grabbed my wound, I guess?" Ema curls her fingers a few times and laughs quietly.

Frowning, Klavier sits next to her. "You... seem unwell."

"Buzz off." She makes a clear effort to spray Luminol in his face, but she's too slow to realize he's dodging.

She does seem less alert. Her wound hasn't reopened or anything, has it? I'm not sure which of the two of them found bandages, but I have some if they're out.

"Klavier...?"

I look back at Trucy before her mouth has quite closed. Hands together, she's close to biting her lip as she stares straight ahead.

I only have to glance at Klavier to see the blue glow coming off his chains.

With a cry, I jump in front of Trucy and grab my sword hilt.

I knew it! I knew I couldn't trust him! What was I thinking, messing around when he's standing right there in front of us?

He draws back, startled, and checks the cave wall around him before frowning at me. "Something wrong, Herr Forehead?"

"First of all, my name is Apollo!" My hands are already shaking from the adrenaline. "Second, can you explain to me why something you could use as a weapon has blood on it?"

His hand goes to the chain immediately. I think he knows perfectly well why there's blood on it, and why he felt the need to hide it. But will he care to tell me?

I take off the Luminol glasses as he frowns. He looks just like Kristoph when he frowns...!

I shouldn't have challenged him. I... I-it's too hard to run far here, there's not much opportunity to hide, outside isn't great for running, either, but... I have my sword! I-I can...

His face softens. "You'll have to stop being so jumpy if you want anyone to stop calling you 'Surprised Boy.' "

What...?

"I can assure you I had this with me before Fräulein Scientist's wound was patched up. Do you have any reason to believe it isn't her blood?"

Exhaling, I rub my wrist just under the bracelet. "As a matter of fact, I do."

He slams the side of his fist into the wall behind him. "Fascinating. What's your reasoning, then? How do you plan to prove that it isn't hers?"

Proof? Well, that's a reasonable request... Maybe there's something in the kit that can help?

I turn to Ema to find her slumped halfway onto the ground, her eyes closed.

"Ema!" I grab Trucy's arm to keep her behind me as I hurry over. Klavier still gets to his district partner first, seizing her wrist and frowning as he concentrates. After a few seconds, he sets her hand back on her the ground.

"Her pulse is fine. Strong and steady as a drumbeat. She'll be back with us yet."

I take a second to check it myself, but he's right. Her pulse is a little fast, but not enough to suggest shock.

"Shall we resume our discussion, then?" Klavier takes a seat by her shoes.

I shoot him a glance before looking through the kit. I don't see anything for testing DNA, but there is a stack of cards for blood typing. It only takes a quick glance through the instructions to see that it requires fresh blood. That's not going to do it.

That and the Luminol are the only things dealing with blood, so I have no way to identify what's on that chain after all. All I can do is see where the blood is, or was.

"Okay." Seating myself on the other side of the gadget box, I meet Klavier's gaze. "You say the blood got there when you were helping Ema. Care to elaborate on that?"

He eyes the red-tinted glasses I'm spinning in my hand and thinks for a moment. "All right."

Trucy scoots up to my right side as Klavier hooks his thumbs under his waistband and begins.

"As I said, I had already picked up the chains, and some other supplies, at the bloodbath. I was apparently some distance away from Ema when the gong sounded; I didn't run into her until reaching this mountain. She was half-collapsed against a large rock, her stash of supplies by her feet. She had taken her jacket off and applied some gauze to a wound in her back, but it clearly hadn't stopped the bleeding. The rest of the bandage had fallen on top of the forensics bin, so I took it and continued where she had left off. That wasn't until after I had set some of my own supplies on the ground, including the chains. When I picked them up afterward, I wiped off the blood so it wouldn't corrode the metal."

"Hmm." I cross my legs, resting my hands on my knees. I know that can't be the truth if the blood isn't Ema's, as my bracelet suggested. I just have to figure out how to take his story apart and prove to him that no one's buying it. Maybe then he'll be willing to tell us what really happened. "Let's go through that again, shall we?"

Trucy leans in to listen more closely as Klavier nods and repeats his story.

"I had already picked up the chains, and some other supplies, at the bloodbath."

"Hold it!" I set the glasses down and fist my hands. "Why would you go after a length of chain, anyway?"

"Because it was right there." He smiles. "I suppose they put it close to my starting plate for the sake of my little costume motif."

The Gamemakers' reasoning makes enough sense, I guess. But what about his? Would he really pick up something that heavy just because it was in front of him?

...I'll back off for now. I don't think I'm getting the whole story here, but pressing more wouldn't help me. I can't prove anything about how his mind works. I need to focus on a part of his speech I can disprove with evidence.

"I was apparently some distance away from Ema when the gong sounded; I didn't run into her until reaching this mountain. She was half-collapsed against a large rock, her stash of supplies by her feet." Doesn't sound too fishy, especially after hearing them talk earlier.

"She had taken her jacket off and applied some gauze to a wound in her back, but it clearly hadn't stopped the bleeding."

"Hold it!" I point at him. "What do you mean, 'clearly'?!"

He flips his bangs with a shake of the head and grins. "I mean she was still bleeding. There was a small pool of blood on the ground, and it was widening."

"Er... right." Why did I even bother with that? "Go on."

"The rest of the bandage had fallen on top of the forensics bin, so I took it and continued where she had left off. That wasn't until after I had set some of my own supplies on the ground, including the chains."

"Hold it! Why did you have to set them down, anyway?"

"They're rather heavy."

I slam my fists down. "Then why are you still carrying them right now?!"

He chuckles. "You didn't let me finish, Herr Forehead. You realize I had to wrap the dressings all the way around Ema's stomach, ja? It's difficult to manage a wad of bandage and a limp body with one's arms full."

Well... That seems reasonable.

"When I picked them up afterward, I wiped off the blood so it wouldn't corrode the metal."

There's nothing inherently wrong with that, either. But that's all he told me. Did I miss something...?

Trucy puts her arms behind her back and throws me a few glances.

"What?" I try to whisper. "Did you catch something?"

"Not really." She scans over the forensics kit. "Maybe we just don't have the evidence we need?"

My eyes rest on the Luminol. We did only get one squirt on the chains. There's probably a lot more to examine than that.

I slide the glasses back on and take a step towards Klavier. "Shut your eyes for a minute."

He glances at the bottle in my hand. "You don't intend to spray that on my face, do you? Should it have any side effects, I wouldn't be very happy with you."

I sweat. "I'm just going to go over the chains for now." I'll try not to ruin your precious pretty face, okay?

He shuffles them off his shoulder surprisingly quietly, and I start to spray more Luminol. The glow seems a little weak for lying in a pool of blood, but he may have just cleaned it off well. There's a bit more blood on some other sections of the chain, but if he coiled it a bit tighter, they would match up. Nothing peculiar there.

I catch a glow on his fingertips, but that's not a contradiction, either. If Ema's blood was still soaking through the bandages when he started fixing her up, he could have gotten some on his fingers. It may have come from wiping the chain clean, too.

This isn't getting me anywhere. He did seem kind of protective of his face... although there's no reason he wouldn't be.

So, is this it...? Do I have to buy his story?

"Polly." Trucy grabs my arm, and I'm startled out of my focus. "His jacket."

"What?" I look at his coat. There aren't any big bloodstains—but I pick out a small cluster of droplets. Then another. It's not much blood, but it's definitely a spatter. His shoulder doesn't glow perceptibly, so it can't be from slapping the bloody chains against his jacket. The glowing spots are high on his chest, too, so they can't be a splash from dropping anything in Ema's blood, either.

"Are you satisfied?" Klavier places his palm on the ground like he's about to stand up. "My account of things is irrefutable, don't you think?"

Oh, no, it isn't. And I know exactly what to say to that.

"Objection!"


	18. Tricked

Klavier fists his hands, grimacing. "What?!"

"I think you ought to take a look at this for yourself." I hand him my glasses, my arm stretched out so I don't have to move any closer. "Check out the front of your jacket. You may not have noticed before because of the color, but..."

He briefly tries to slide the glasses over his sunglasses before giving in and swapping them out. He stretches the jacket out, squints at it, and frowns.

"It's too low to have spattered you putting the chain over your shoulder, and too high to be from the chain hitting the blood in the first place." I cross my arms. "How about you tell us what really happened?"

He lets go of the jacket and slides his sunglasses back on. After a moment of messing with his bangs, he looks back at us. He hasn't yet figured out what to say, apparently.

I slam my fists down. "Did you kill someone?"

He leans his shoulders back against the rocks. "I... don't know."

Trucy, checking Ema's pulse again, looks up. "What do you mean...?"

Klavier stands up straight again, though he's not quite smiling. "I was attacked not far from my starting plate, the chain was within reach... Instinctively, I grabbed it and swung it hard at the side of his head. There was blood, yes, but he had made it back to his feet by the time I looked back. We won't know until tonight if he succumbed to the wound or not." He snaps a few times. "Of course, someone else could have finished him since then, so his face in the sky wouldn't be enough to prove it was my kill."

Well... My bracelet didn't react to any of that. "But if that's the truth, why did you try to hide it?"

He grins. "When you first asked me, you were on the verge of putting your sword to use. I hardly wanted to startle you by admitting that I had attacked someone." With a chuckle, he flips his bangs. "I'm glad you seem to be thinking more rationally now."

You can't be serious...

I manage to pull myself out of my disheartened stupor when I see Ema stir. She's doing all right, then. At least, she's not on the brink of death. That's good...

"Now, if we've finished our exciting discussion..." Klavier gets to his feet. "I think it's about time I secured some water. We're not far from the stream by the Cornucopia, which looks uninhabited as far as I can tell. I've yet to see another stream, even from this height, so I'm sure this is the closest."

He takes a step toward the cave entrance, water bottle in hand, and smiles back at us. "I trust you'll keep an eye on Fräulein Scientist while I'm out?"

Trucy nods. "Of course!"

"Yes, but..." I frown. "You seem to assume we're all already in an alliance."

He leans toward us. "Aren't we?"

Trucy's watching me, too, and I realize this is my decision. Do I enter an alliance with an unwell girl and a suspicious boy? Do I need them on my side? Do I want them watching over my campsite when I'm trying to sleep?

Can I even stand their company for that long? Ema can be awfully grumpy, and Klavier... I'm not even going to start listing problems with him.

"If it makes any difference—" Klavier reaches behind his back—"I believe there was some hair gel in a toiletry bag I grabbed."

With an exclamation, I fist my hands. "I'm not allying with you just because you have_ hair gel_!" What I have now is supposed to last a while, anyway!

Klavier laughs—I suspect he wasn't being serious after all—and drops his hand to his hip. What was he even reaching for? I don't see any backpack straps on him. Maybe there's something hooked to the back of his belt... I think his water bottle was clipped to it.

Wait, that can't be his usual belt if his sunglasses were his district token. Did he just wind part of the chain around his hips? I guess if it works...

He resumes his usual smile. "Of course. There's much more to an alliance than sharing supplies. Although if you don't mind looking after an injured Fräulein, you can't be an outright strategist. What's so wrong with me, then? Does a possible killing in self-defense render me completely untrustworthy? Or do you have another reason to doubt me?" He rearranges his bangs, smirking at me sideways. "I don't suppose it's a logical one?"

...He knows exactly what I'm thinking. He's given me no reason to doubt him personally. The blood on his chains is still unsettling, but I was ready to slash at him myself a while ago. He helped out Ema, definitely without any thanks.

And it could all be to make us think he's a kindhearted person. I wouldn't put that past a Gavin at all.

But... strictly looking at the evidence... I really have nothing to condemn him with.

Exhaling, I fold my arms, not quite meeting his gaze. "Okay. I guess there isn't sufficient reason to run you off." I look up, extending a hand. "Allies?"

He shakes gladly. "Allies." Pulling back, he turns his face toward the sunlight. "I'll return shortly, then. Does either of you have a bottle to fill?"

I shake my head. "Nothing that would work as one, either." The box of crackers is a container, and the poncho is waterproof, but nothing is both. Maybe I could put them together? I can't help but think that would be a little hard to handle, especially with everything else Klavier is carrying.

"No, wait." I slip off my backpack and start pulling things out. "I think I'll go with you."

"What are we doing?" The voice isn't Klavier's, as I was expecting, so it takes me a moment to place it.

I check over my shoulder to find Ema sitting up, if not very rigidly.

"Water," I tell her.

"Good." She shuffles her shoulders, her eyes shut. "I get the most since I'm hypovolemic."

Trucy blinks. "Since what?"

She waves a hand. "Blood loss."

"Oh... Yeah, you're right." Trucy folds her arms, looking up. "Can we even bring enough water back for everybody?"

"Not enough to keep us happy for a while." Klavier spins the lid of his water bottle. "We'll have to find a better source to station ourselves by, but not until we're all in condition to travel."

Ema opens her eyes to locate her snacks. "I can travel for a little bit."

"Enough to make it to another stream?" He snaps. "I sincerely doubt it."

I put the opaque plastic bag of crackers in the backpack and spread the poncho around the inside of the box. "Does she have to make it to a different one? I understand that we don't want to hang around on lower ground for long, especially by the Cornucopia, but we'll all get our share of water if we all head for that stream. Otherwise, anyone hanging back here won't get much."

"Good idea!" Trucy starts tying the blanket around her shoulders. "Do you think you can make it there and back, Ema?"

"Sure." She munches on her food. I'd be surprised if it sees the end of this day. "Just give me a minute to... wake up."

Klavier nods, grinning at her. "And if all else fails, I can carry you back. You aren't that heavy."

A piece of her food hits him square in the forehead.

* * *

><p>"It's a little slippery over here. Be careful." I grip the rocky face behind me as I take another step onto the mud. I didn't realize there was still this much when the mountain started to slope upward. Then again, I wasn't paying the most attention on the way up...<p>

We all make it to level ground without too many slip-ups. Ema's still pale-faced as she ambles along by my side. We can't go too fast, but I haven't seen anyone coming after us yet. I... thought I caught a glimpse or two, but nobody else did. I have to admit I'm a little paranoid today—as if I'll be much calmer any other time in this place—so it's a good bet that there really wasn't anything.

"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!"

My eyes are on Ema, and that was too high-pitched to be Klavier. "T-Trucy?!" I whirl around.

Someone else gasps as we catch our first glimpse of the shining knife at her neck. Behind her and a bit to the side stands the boy from 12, his eyes darting around the lot of us. Trucy swallows, standing stiffly and unable to get a look at him. There's no blood on her neck, although the knife's edge is definitely pressed against it.

"All right, now, hear me out, will ya?" The 12 doesn't seem much less nervous than the girl he's threatening. "I don't want any trouble from you fine folks, I really don't." He casts his eyes to the ground for a minute, like he's trying to look more pathetic. "I just ain't got any supplies but this one knife here, and I'd sure 'preciate it if you'd be willing ta make a donation."

"You know, there's such a thing as just asking, Phineas." Ema glowers at him.

He sighs, still looking shaky. "Well, I'm afraid people just ain't too generous 'round here. So, whaddya think? Can we make a deal?"

"Trucy...!"

Phineas may be pretty small, but Trucy isn't that big herself. I don't think she can thrust him away, especially not fast enough to keep from getting seriously hurt. The rest of us are pretty close, but how are we supposed to take care of the knife before he makes his move?

Would he really go through with it? I-I mean, it could all be a bluff. Not everyone is ready to kill a person from the start!

I...

I can't. I can't risk it when Trucy's life is on the line. He... he could really kill her! She could be _dead_ if we don't agree!

"O-okay." She carefully starts to bring her hands up to the blanket over her shoulders. "Okay. I-I'm just taking this off so you can have it, too, all right?"

He watches her and moves the knife up, closer to her jaw. "Much obliged."

She's a little shaky as she pulls off the blanket—her jacket starts to come off, and she only just catches it under her arm. Rearranging the blanket, she holds it in front of her, one end dragging on the rocks.

"Here." She takes the throwing knives off her waist and sets them over her palm. Sliding her other hand underneath the blanket, she holds it out a little further. "We can p-put things on here, so it's easier for you to carry everything."

"Good idea, miss." He glances at the knives and then looks pointedly at us. Is he... going to demand everything? Why wouldn't he, with that kind of bargaining chip?

Klavier takes a step toward the scene. "I see little point in further aggravating him." The chains clank as he pulls them off his arm and waist, his water bottle and two small pouches coming off with them. With another step, he carefully lays it on top of Trucy's knives. Trucy doesn't shift under the weight. I guess she can't afford to.

"O-okay." My mouth is even drier than thirst has made it as I take off my backpack.

Wait! Clay's jacket, and the knife...!

"Wh-what else do you need?" I flip the bag open, but not enough for him to see it. "I have some crackers, and a flashlight!"

"I figure I'll take everything I can get." He raises his eyebrows at me.

But...!

I meet Trucy's gaze and know I have to do it. I still hold my breath as I force my feet over and lay the bag and my sword down by the chains. "Can you carry all of that okay?"

She smiles. "I'm fine. It's really not very heavy."

I pull back just as Ema adds her small bag to the pile. Phineas gives all of us a good visual inspection, to make sure we aren't holding anything back. His eyes rest on my wrist. "Expensive-lookin' bracelet ya got there."

What?! "This is my district token!" I force my hands down at my sides. "And it's not like you can sell it in the middle of the arena!"

"I guess you're right." He takes one more minute to confirm there's nothing else on us—the forensics kit is back in the cave, but we didn't think to leave anything else behind. It usually seems a lot safer to keep things on your person. Not a good move today, though.

I turn to Trucy again. She throws the other half of the blanket over the supplies and starts to pull up the corners. In the process, she loses her grip on her jacket, letting it float down—

"Aaah!" Rocks suddenly go flying from her left foot with a loud clatter, and she struggles to keep her head up. A sliver of red appears on her neck, and my heartbeat vanishes.

"I'm sorry! The mud..." At her voice, I regain some of my nerve, although I'm still shaking even more than she is.

"That's all right." Phineas bobs his shoulders as he eyes the blanket. "Ya didn't mean anythin' by it." Keeping his right hand tight on the knife, he reaches for the supplies with his left.

"The shield on the bottom is a lot lighter than it looks, don't worry." Trucy shuffles her hands down, the four corners of cloth in the middle falling over her fingers like a banana peel. "You shouldn't have any trouble carrying this."

He grips the top of the bundle and begins to lift it.

"The deal has been made, ja?" Klavier scowls at him. "I suggest you leave quickly."

"Don't mind if I do!" Yanking the knife and bag to himself, he spins on his foot and runs for the hills.

Trucy lets out a breath, pressing a hand to the cut on her neck.

"T... Trucy!" I lunge and hug her tight. "You're okay! I-I thought..." I thought you were going to die! I thought he might just kill you, anyway...! I...

By the time I catch myself sobbing into her hair, it's too late to stop.

It's fine... You're fine... Nobody else has to die today...! No more of my friends have to die today!

"D-don't cry, Apollo!" She hugs me back.

Gah... I must look pretty bad right now, crying _again_. I have to pull myself together. People are watching.

Forcing myself to draw in a long breath, I pull back. Trucy gives me a smile before glancing over at the 7s.

"Ach, your neck." Klavier reaches behind his back. "I have some oint—" He cuts off with a frown.

Ema crosses her arms. "You couldn't have even tried to hide it in your pocket?"

"He was watching closely. And I didn't see you stowing anything, either, Fräulein."

She growls. "How did he even manage that? Everything but the forensics equipment...! What about my snackoos? What am I supposed to eat now? How am I even supposed to drink anything without Apollo's iodine tablets? What about when my dressings have to be changed?!" She lets out a burst of a scream.

"C-calm down." Trucy fists her hands, her look intent.

"Right, we can't let this get us down." I swallow. "Like you said, we still have the forensics equipment—" Ema's the only person that that would cheer up, honestly—"and Trucy's alive." I put an arm over my district partner's shoulders.

Klavier smiles. "That's what's important. Are you doing all right?"

"Yes, thank you." She grins and glances at Ema. "Oh, and your snackoos?" She whips her hand out from behind her back, Ema's snack bag crinkling in her fingers.

"Wh-what?!" Ema snatches the food, rolling the bag in her hands and squinting at it before taking a piece out. "This was in my shoulder bag! How did you...?"

"And Polly?" She steps back, kneeling to get a hand under her jacket. "Do you want your sword back?"

I have just enough time to furrow my brow before she holds my sword out for me to take.

?!

While I'm busy staring at it, she plucks her jacket off the ground. Now I can plainly see the pile of supplies sitting there on the rocks.

Klavier cracks up, nearly doubling over in laughter.

"Wonderful show, Fräulein Magician!"


	19. Missing You

I throw a purification tablet into the water bottle and screw the lid shut. The stream flows pretty lazily, so I don't want to try drinking straight from it. The water is nice and cool on my hand, though, especially when I've been sweating it out for a while.

"No, seriously! How did you do it?" Although Ema's eyelids are drooping again, she doesn't sound tired yet.

Trucy takes the brim of her hat out of the water and slaps it back on her head. "Oh, come on, Ema. You know a magician never reveals her secrets!"

"You don't have to tell me everything. Just some hints—I can piece the rest together by myself, scientifically."

"Fine. One hint." She leans back, hands wedged between her knees. "The shield was actually a lot _heavier_ than it looked."

"What kind of hint is that?"

Trucy giggles. "...I guess we did still lose the shield and blanket, but they were a hassle to carry around, anyway. It got really warm under that thing!"

"Much better than the total loss we had suspected." Klavier takes his water bottle back and shakes it.

"Agreed." Arms folded, I smile at Trucy. "And I'm still really glad you're okay." Shaking my head, I chuckle. "I can't believe it, either. You get taken _hostage_, and your first thought is to do a magic trick."

She poses, knuckles pushing at the brim of her hat. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"That's merely the spirit of a true performer, Herr Forehead."

I squint at him. "What are you talking about?"

He snaps. "I suppose someone whose hands shake in front of a crowd wouldn't understand."

"So what?!" I point at him. "Don't tell me you've never had a minor case of stage fright!"

He laughs, leaning forward. "Those born for the stage cannot fear it."

"I'm sure that's true..." Sweating, I splash a bit of water on my face. "Why are you so fixated on being a star, anyway? That's even why you said you volunteered, right?"

He grins. "You've got to keep on rocking if you want to stay on top. Although I've sold quite a bit of music already, this seemed an excellent opportunity to expand my audience."

"Wait, what? Sold music?"

Trucy pouts. "You weren't paying much attention to him in the pre-Games, were you, Polly?"

"Err..." Honestly, I was pretty much trying to ignore him. I'm still kind of trying to ignore him.

Ema groans, throwing her head back. "Don't get him started on this, _please_."

"Nein, I'm responsible for my own publicity." Klavier smiles. "Perhaps you just haven't consciously put all of the pieces together. Let's see if this will jog your memory."

Setting the water bottle down, he leans forward and starts shredding air guitar with such precision I can almost hear the music.

He did seem good at the guitar during the party. I wouldn't have pegged him as a professional, though. He certainly looks like he's done his share of standard District 7 work.

He rears his air guitar back before finishing with a stroke that leaves his right hand in the air. "Well?"

"Um." How does he expect me to respond? Raucous applause? Declaring that the magic power of the music has told me everything I need to know about his recording history?

"For goodness sake." Trucy huffs and puts her hands on her hips. "He's the lead singer and first guitarist of the Gavinners! Didn't you notice him playing a few of their songs at the party?"

"Gavinners...?"

She sighs, apologizing to Klavier for my ignorance before turning back to me. "They released three hit singles before their debut album, and they have two concert DVDs out there, too." She smiles. "I hunted them all down in my room at the Training Center."

Klavier picks his water bottle up and starts swishing it again. "I had found them on my District's floor, too. Nice of the Capitol to provide us with such quality entertainment."

Where did they have music? It wasn't anywhere that caught my eye, so I assume he must have actually gone around looking to see if they had stocked his own album. How... humble.

"Wait, so it's a whole band?" I press a finger to my forehead.

"Ja. Rock is a thing to be shared." His gaze rests on the stream. "That's not to say there are many in my District with the proper respect for the genre. Fewer have the talent—and only five prodigious young men have the harmony to rock the house."

So he may not even be the youngest member. Huh. I'm... well, I'm not going to say "impressed."

"Wait!" Trucy's hands clench into fists as she stares at him. "Was—Wasn't the boy you volunteered for...?"

Klavier's smile doesn't falter, but I can see the tendons in his hand tensing up as he grips the bottle tighter. "I _have_ been known to steal the spotlight from my bandmates from time to time."

I let my arms drop. "So the reason you volunteered—!"

"The entire nation is watching, it's a wonderful publicity opportunity, and I _am_ the face of the band." Pulling at his bangs, he grins at us sideways. "A face that can and has attracted more Fräuleins than Daryan may ever hope to win over." He finishes with such a laugh that I can only imagine a District 7 boy named Daryan swearing out an innocent television screen right now.

His grip on the bottle hasn't let up, though, and I know there's still something he's not telling us. It has to be about his decision to volunteer. If it's not to be a star, or for publicity...

"Tell me, did you have any plans to volunteer before your bandmate was reaped?"

He hesitates before looking over his shoulder at Ema. "Fräulein Scientist? Is the water ready yet?"

He's changing the subject. He's not sure what lie I won't catch him in. But what is he trying to so hard to hide?

Ema drags her wrist toward her face and lets her arm drop. With a slow shake of the head, she sighs. "You'd think if you had _that_ many fangirls, they would have sent us some actual food by now."

Trucy folds her arms. "Yeah, between that and your 8 in training—Oh!"

I've already caught sight of the silver parachute by the time she snaps her gaze up.

Klavier laughs, setting the bottle down and standing to catch the large bowl. "Perhaps my brother merely wanted us to ask."

Somehow, he doesn't seem the type. Maybe he was waiting for us to find water? I can't think of any other reason to hold it back until now.

Ema stares at the stew, clearly unsure whether to be irritated at being proven wrong or overjoyed at the sight and smell of the food. She at least pushes herself up and walks toward us.

That smells so good. The meat, and plums, and—

Wait, wait, wait. Not getting distracted.

"Klavier! Are you going to answer me?"

Separating the spoons, he glances down at me. "About what, Herr Forehead?"

I get to my feet, which doesn't quite have the desired effect when I'm still shorter than him. "Were you planning to volunteer the whole time?"

Silent, he hands a spoon to each of us. "I had been debating it. Between gaining popularity and following my brother's footsteps—" my bracelet tightens—"it seemed like a good idea. I wasn't sure whether to attempt it this year or next." He smiles with his teeth showing. "But my brother won at eighteen, and you could say I'm a bit competitive. Another Gavinner being reaped was, of course, the final push."

What was that about his brother's footsteps? If that wasn't his intention, nor fame, that leaves... What? Non-Careers don't volunteer that often, for that many reasons. The only other thing I can think of is... just trying to save his friend's life.

But why would he try to hide something like that? I would have a lot less trouble trusting him if I knew he didn't expect victory any more than those of us who were reaped. He—

He would seem like less of a threat. And that's not a good idea when all of your sponsors are watching.

Is... Is that really it...?

But... he's not _stupid_. Maybe he's got a little muscle on me, but this is the Hunger Games. People who come in here are not likely to make it back out. There's a reason people don't volunteer for every friend or family member that goes up on stage. Am I really supposed to believe that this guy is such a reckless, selfless hero he would do that?

But then again... There's his brother. The Capitol expects victory from a Gavin. I don't think it's a stretch to say Daryan wouldn't have any such support. And better sponsors mean better odds.

Does that level out the bet enough? Does that make it just rational enough for him to volunteer? Is he really here because he couldn't stand seeing his bandmate in a place like this?

He... He's not going to tell me anything else about it. Not when he's trying so hard to disguise his motives. And—he still volunteered. He still thinks he can win. So he'll be trying to. No matter why he's here, he's here, and I'll have to watch my back. But maybe he's not such a bad ally.

For now.

* * *

><p>We haven't reached the halfway point to our campsite before Ema starts to stumble off the rocks.<p>

Trucy gasps and seizes Ema's shoulder strap before she can lose her footing altogether. With a choking sound, Ema staggers into the mountain face.

"Ema!" I lunge towards her, but she's already safely pressed against the rock.

She's groaning, but she doesn't pick herself up.

"You did well pulling your own weight, Fräulein." Klavier steps down a bit to get past me and then Trucy. "But now it's time for you to rest a bit, ja?"

She lets out a long, low breath as he steps up by her side.

I sigh. "We're on our way back home. You won't have to tolerate this for long."

...Did I say home? I guess it is our home for the night, at least. Not a very sweet one, though.

I'm not sure if I was reassuring or if Ema's just not strong enough to resist, but she stays quiet as Klavier picks her up and sets her over his free shoulder. He has a harder time navigating now, but it's not like we were going that fast before.

Sunset is impending by the time we make it to the cave. It won't be long until the death toll now.

Situating myself near the entrance, I pull out the clipboard and pull the plastic wrap off. I might as well jot down who's gone if I can. It can't hurt to keep track.

I'm going to have to write down Clay's name... And I don't even know who else's at this point... Athena? Juniper? Hugh? Robin? One of Trucy's other friends?

I... think there were six cannons total today.

"Paper makes good kindling, but I don't believe an intense stare is going to be enough to light it."

Jumping, I frown at Klavier. "What? I'm not..." I sigh. "Do we need to start a fire? Because we don't have enough to keep one going for any amount of time." There were some small bushes dotting the rocks, but we didn't pick up any branches.

"I think we'll be fine. It's a bit cool, but the wind doesn't reach us here." Settling against the other side of the wall, he looks out at the sunset. "Ready to see who's left to play the game tonight?"

"Yeah." I twist the pen in my fingers. "I'll go ahead and take notes, to keep track of how far we've come."

"Good idea." Trucy sits a little bit behind me. I can feel her watching me intently.

"I'll be fine," I tell her quietly. I can't say I'm over much of anything, but I've done more than enough crying today. I'm going to focus on my notes. Just writing some genders and districts. No crying.

I probably click the pen twenty times before the anthem starts up. Now it's just the Capitol seal over the night sky. Nothing to write down about that.

First is the girl from 1. A Career down, right from the start. I wonder who managed that.

I glance at Klavier but flick my gaze back to the sky. It's hard to tell in the dim light, but he didn't seem to be reacting with anything but surprise. I guess he did say that a male attacked him.

Not until Clay's face appears do I notice the stars twinkling behind the projection.

My eyes prickle immediately.

D-darn it...! I...

I can't...

I do my level best not to make a sound, but I can't keep the tears in my eyes, even if I shut them.

Th-there he was... among the stars. But—! He shouldn't... Not like this...! Not... like this...

I feel Trucy hugging me, her arms trembling, but I don't manage to look back at the night sky until the anthem is already fading. The girl from 12, then the Capitol seal. Shoot...

"Trucy...?" I take a deep breath, craning my neck towards her. "Who was... after Clay?"

She casts her gaze to the ground. "I... didn't see. Sorry."

...Of course. She was friends with him, too. Who wasn't...?

Wh-who would do this...?!

I suck in a breath, wiping my face clean and turning to Klavier. "I... missed a couple. Who all was up there?"

He meets my gaze, a gleam of moonlight going around his lenses. "Ah. It was Fräulein Arme from 1, Herr Terran from 3, Constance from 6…" He trails off, staring at the wall.

Trucy grips her fingers. "Klavier?"

He snaps his gaze back to us. "Ach, my apologies. Just needed a moment to remember. After her were one each from, um, 8, 10, and 12."

"Eight?" Trucy gasps, hand flying to her mouth. "J-Jinxie's from 8!"

"Ah, no, no. The only other Fräuleins were from 10 and 12."

"Oh…" Trucy looks down. "So, Florent…"

I scribble the genders and districts down before shutting my eyes. It's not as hard to handle when I can't see it...

"Well, I'll go ahead with the first watch of the night." Klavier is standing when I look up, though I can't see his mouth move in the lack of light. "I'm a bit of a night owl, anyway."

"Thank you." Trucy starts scooting back. "Good night."

"Good night." I think he turns to smile at her, but I can only see the glint on his shades moving.

I get to my feet, although I don't go any farther into the tunnel. "You know, they're called _sun_glasses for a reason."

He laughs quietly. "I wear my sunglasses at night. It's not a crime."

"Crime doesn't get you killed here, stupidity does. You can't see anyone coming with those things on." I cross my arms. "Are they prescription or something?" His brother has glasses, after all.

"Of course not."

My bracelet doesn't react. Maybe he really is that stupid, and I've been sorely overestimating him.

Or maybe I can't see any tells when I can't actually see.

I try not to sigh. "Listen, if you can't see anything without wrecking your night vision with those, you shouldn't even be on a night watch."

"I told you—" his voice has hardened—"they are not prescription." A slash of light tells me he's finally yanked them off.

"Fine." Whether or not I'm right, I'm not winning this battle. If we're going to be allies, I have to trust him enough to pull some of the weight. "Good night."


	20. Visitor

I don't feel like I've gotten my share of sleep before my watch starts, but at least nothing else happened while Klavier was on watch. No cannons, either, from what he tells me. I wonder if the Careers are even on the prowl tonight. With one dead and an outside tribute or two thrown in, they may not be working at their best. Which would be fine by me.

I head toward the mouth of the cave, staying in the shadows. It isn't hard. While there is moonlight, it keeps getting blotted out by clouds. Anyone coming toward us would probably need a source of light just to keep from falling off the mountainside. That would make it easier for me to sound an alarm, though. Whether or not we could get away in time... we'd have to see. I haven't explored the whole tunnel, after all. That's a task for another time, if we do stay here.

But I don't see why we wouldn't. It's a haul to get to the stream, but that just means we're less likely to be tracked back here. Somewhere with softer ground would sure be nice, but it would be absurd to set up camp in a valley. So long as the Careers don't backtrack to the Cornucopia, we should be all right here.

At least, until the Gamemakers force us out. But that might not happen for a while... They had plenty of deaths yesterday to keep them happy, that's for sure.

I can only look at the night sky for a moment. Gritting my teeth, I stare down at the rocks instead. Clay... Who would kill you...?

A dark blur of motion catches my eye. Stiffening, I tiptoe to the right wall of the cave to get a better viewing angle. My eyes track the figure, but I can't see anyone else near it. I'm pretty sure it's a person scrambling up the rocks, though. Probably not a Career, at least, although that doesn't mean there's no threat.

As the tribute approaches, I can hear high-pitched panting. Is it a girl? I think—yeah. I can see some long hair flailing in the wind. In a ponytail, I think.

It's not Simon, is it?

I panic before realizing the figure is far too small to be him. I do think it's a girl, although it's impossible to see her face in this light. I'll have to wait and see if she goes past us.

Holding my breath, I take a step back. As she draws closer, I can tell she's whimpering between gasps for breath. Is... she all right? I don't think she's climbing funny. Quickly and recklessly, maybe, but not like she's injured.

Who on earth is it, anyway? As far as girls with ponytails... Well, there's Athena. That's not Athena, is it? I—honestly can't tell. Maybe I should give the flashlight another try. Surely whoever's scrabbling over the rocks in fear isn't out to get us.

But what is she running from? It wouldn't do her or us any good to give our location to an attacker.

She pulls herself up a few more feet, and I take another step back. She's almost headed straight for the cave. I guess if she comes in here, I can try to pull her inside without attracting any danger. Then again, she's close enough now that I could probably...

Swallowing, I make sure my voice is down when I say, "Who's there?"

The tribute freezes, although she doesn't stop shaking.

"Are you running from something?"

She shrinks against the mountain face, and I still get no other response. When she hasn't moved in a few minutes, I give up and step back, out of the moonlight. If something's after her, I guess it isn't coming too fast. And if she's too afraid to approach any other tributes, I'm not going to keep panicking her.

Could she tell where my voice was coming from? If she's avoiding us regardless, we can't possibly get in trouble from any of this.

I barely see her hands breaching the surface before her crouched silhouette blocks the little light coming in here. Is that...?

I take a step forward. "Jinxie?"

Her eyes widen—maybe she didn't see me before—and she lets out a piercing shriek before pelting back outside. Flinching back, I just get my arms lowered before I hear her yelp. Something thumps.

"J-Jinxie?!"

I pad to the entrance and try to locate her. You know, honestly, if anything was around, they would have heard that. I'm going to see if the flashlight's back in working condition.

I crane my neck to look behind me and suck in a breath. "_Hey everyone!_ I need to check on something outside! Enemies could be coming, so keep an eye out!"

Even Ema seems to be stirring after that, so I clear my throat, grab the flashlight, and set out. I can't see Jinxie anywhere around, but several shadowy pits dot the rock from this angle. Covering the end of the flashlight with my hand, I flip the switch. My fingers are instantly outlined in a red glow. So it is working again. I didn't think the Capitol would bother to put such a short-lived flashlight in with good supplies.

I point the beam of light straight down and start to sweep it across the rocks. To my right, about ten feet down, Jinxie crouches, pressing her left shoulder against the rocks. Her head snaps up immediately, eyes widening.

"It's just me! Apollo! Trucy's district partner?" I step down, keeping the light on her. Gasping, she presses back against the stone. Once her right arm bumps it, she shouts. Is she hurt? Her shoulder does look a little off.

But I won't be able to get any closer to her, not when she's like this. Inhaling, I shut off the flashlight and slip back into the cave.

"Trucy? Are you awake?"

"We are all awake, Herr Forehead. What's our situation? I'm sure I heard a Fräulein, but I don't seem to see her now."

I try not to sigh. "Actually, she took one look at me and ran off screaming."

"Who was it?" The silk of Trucy's hat reflects a bit of the moonlight as she walks over.

"Jinxie. Maybe she'll be more willing to talk to you." I hand over the flashlight. "She looked hurt, so don't startle her any more."

"Got it." With a yawn, she hurries to the entrance, a blaze of light distinguishing her silhouette. It takes a few minutes of quiet coaxing, but she comes back with Jinxie cowering behind her. The flashlight stays on as Trucy guides her to sit by the wall not far into the cave.

"There's definitely something wrong with her shoulder." She frowns and aims the light toward Jinxie's right side. "Do you think it's broken?"

"Let's hope not." Klavier, crouching, takes a crawling step toward her. She pulls back and screams, though I'm not sure if it's from fear or pain.

Klavier freezes, slowly lifting his hands to show empty palms. "It's okay. We just want to help you."

Jinxie's still breathing too quickly, but she manages to stay in place as he gets close enough to give her shoulder a look-over.

"That blood isn't yours, is it, Fräulein?"

Jinxie opens her mouth but can't seem to get anything out of it.

"How badly are you hurt? Do you know?" Trucy presses Jinxie's hand between hers. After getting no response, she tries, "What happened?"

"I..." The 8 squeezes her eyes shut. "D-demon... but..." She flicks a glance at her bloodstained shirt before she has to shut her eyes again. "F-Florent."

That's—Florent's blood?! It's a dense spatter, though; he must have been killed _right_ in front of her. No wonder she's so shaken up. She wasn't at ease in the first place, and after witnessing something like that...

"I'm sorry to hear about that." I catch myself trying to lean closer and stop. "But don't worry! You're safe with us now!"

She shrinks back, yelping in pain again.

"Apollo!" Trucy hisses at me. "Don't yell at her!"

"But I wasn't yelling!"

Jinxie's back to full-blown whimpering when someone shoves me to the side.

"Listen, how about you be quiet and guard the door?"

I frown at Ema, but she manages a much dirtier look on her part, and I go toward the entrance. She's right, of course; we've been flashing lights and making noise. Someone has to stay alert to the outside. I guess it is my job right now...

"I'm going to roll up your sleeve a little to see the damage. Okay?"

Jinxie whimpers harder. I know I don't have any painkillers...

"Achtung. Definitely dislocated."

"When did you hurt it?" Trucy keeps her voice down.

"J-just... now..."

"Good," Ema says, her voice already getting worn again. "There shouldn't be much damage, then."

"All right, I'm going to pop it back in. This will hurt, but you'll feel a lot better afterward. Okay? Take my hand, don't be afraid..."

Jinxie stifles a few yells before shrieking. I can't hear any more whimpering after that, so I check to see her slumped onto Klavier's chest.

"I-is she okay?!" Trucy pulls her friend's shoulders back.

"I'm sure she's only fainted." Klavier helps to lean her against the rock wall.

"All right..." Trucy checks for a pulse, anyway, but it only takes a moment for her to drop her hands. "I wonder if she's really going to be okay, though."

"We'll make sure she will be." He feels over her shoulder one more time before pulling back. "The rest of us may as well get some rest if we can." He turns to grin at me. "Of course, you're still on watch."

I cross my arms. "I realize that, thanks."

"Good night, Polly." Trucy pushes the flashlight into my palm before turning it off. "Just yell if anybody else shows up. It worked well enough this time."

"I will." Slipping the flashlight into my backpack, I stare back at the entrance and let my eyes adjust to the darkness.


	21. Take Action

Jinxie stays in the middle of the group as we clamber over the mountainside. She doesn't have to move her injured arm much since we're traveling across instead of up, but Trucy still guards her right side. Klavier's in the lead, while Ema and I bring up the rear. It took a worrying amount of time to wake her this morning, but she's keeping up all right.

Since we haven't gone up any further, we're pretty exposed. I'll have to keep a sharp eye out for enemies as well as a water source that not everyone else in the arena knows about. But I've got two terrifically sharp eyes, so that shouldn't be a problem!

Klavier grunts, but when I glance up at him, he's still walking forward.

"Everything all right up there?" I call.

"Ja." He smiles over his shoulder without stopping. "It's just a bit of a rude awakening sleeping in a cave after those feather beds in the Training Center."

I'm pretty achy myself, but it's hard to say how much of it is from the rocks.

"I know," Trucy moans. "Maybe we can find a mattress in another cave? Or have one donated. Could they drop us something that big?"

"I'm pretty sure that's entirely unprecedented." I slouch as I creep forward on the rocks.

"Well, yeah, but it's unprecedented to have a rock star in the Games, too! I bet he has enough sponsors to swing it." Her gaze drifts upward for a moment. "But I guess it would be asking an awful lot to send five of them."

Klavier spins on his heel and leans towards her grinning. "If we don't get enough, I'd be willing to share."

Trucy giggles, but Ema huffs louder.

"Can you believe this guy?" She glances at me sideways.

"I know." I sigh but straighten up. At least _someone_ else in this alliance is sane, if a bit snack-crazy. "How about you? Feeling okay?"

She makes a noncommittal noise. "Still pretty light-headed and weak. And nauseous, but I can't say for sure that's from the blood loss. There are certain confounding variables in play." She narrows her eyes at Klavier, who has since resumed the foray ahead.

"Ah. Feeling alert enough, though?"

"Yeah." She rubs her forehead. "Tired, granted, but that's not surprising."

"Guys!" Trucy stops abruptly, making Jinxie jump. "Be quiet for a minute."

Pausing, I let one hand hover over the rock face as I try to pick up whatever she heard. It may be another false alarm, but the last "false alarm" got her a knife held to her neck. I don't want to take any more chances.

Just as I'm starting to wonder if she's only setting the stage for a magic trick, I catch a dark blur of motion.

"That way!" I swing out my arm, pointing ahead and a bit below. The others' heads snap toward that direction as the rocks hide the attackers for a moment.

Ema stiffens, clutching her purse strap. "What was it?"

"I barely caught a glance." I press a finger against my forehead. "Taking distance into account, it was pretty big."

A faint growl seeps into the silence that follows.

Trucy leans forward, hooking her foot around a jutting piece of rock for balance. "Is it getting closer?"

"Unless there are other tributes around, I would dare to say yes." Frowning, Klavier grips his chains and glances backward. The tunnel is pretty far away by now. If a growling mutt—maybe a pack of them—is coming after us, we're not going to make it in time. And if they're small enough to fit in the cave, it might not be such a good idea to lead them there, anyway.

"What do you think?" He watches the pack as it comes back into view. "We have the high ground."

"We also have two injured tributes." I focus on the pack. Definitely mutts, several of them. "And I'd rather not have that number change all of a sudden."

"If you have a solid escape plan, I'd love to hear it." He slips his thumb under the coiled chain. "I say, if the Capitol wants a fight, they'll get a fight."

Still sucking up to the audience, are we? Although... he's kind of right. The Capitol controls every part of this arena. Do we want to try running in the hope they won't just trap us somewhere worse?

"I think we can do it." Trucy peers at the mutts before looking to me. "There are four of them, right?"

I nod. "I don't see any reinforcements on the horizon, either."

"Okay. Jinxie? You can climb up a bit farther—or, wait." She folds her arms, frowning at Jinxie's shoulder. "Maybe you should backtrack some. I'm sure the rest of us can keep them from advancing."

"O-okay." Jinxie glances at me and Ema before shivering.

I sigh and climb down a bit so she can get past without bumping into me. "Ema, you can hang back, too. We'll be outnumbered without you, but between your injury and having no weapons, well..."

She slides her glasses over her eyes with a smirk. "Who said I don't have any weapons?"

Well, your shoulder bag is pretty small. Most of it has been taken up by that bag of snacks, and some glass tubes or something. I guess you could fit a small knife in there if you tried... And you could probably throw the forensics equipment, but I'm not sure you would do that even if your life is on the line.

"Listen, I'll hang out a bit above Trucy." She picks up the plastic crate with a grunt. "I'll keep this a little higher up so it doesn't get damaged."

I trust that she has some sort of plan, and I doubt I'd be able to stop her, anyway. "All right. Tell me if you start feeling hazy again."

"I will if I can."

Thanks, that's comforting...

With an exhale, I draw my sword and assume a stance, although the ground is uneven. We're really going to fight these things. We're really... out of our minds.

It's a shame being rational isn't an option.

The mutts—distinctly dog-like and probably three times my size overall, one of the Hunger Games favorites—start their charge uphill, one in the lead, two behind him, and one in the back. A guy in the second row is the closest to my side, so I'll target him. These mutts don't have any unexpected weak points that I can remember. Just go for the head, neck, or chest, and it should work out all right. Provided I don't get anything crushed, pinned, or bitten off first.

They're still twenty feet below when Trucy sends a knife flying into the leader's eye. Howling in pain, it staggers back enough to crash into the mutt behind it, and they both topple backwards.

My target hasn't tripped up, though. First, I'll stun it with a slash across the face—

Or watch Klavier bash a wad of chains against its head. Apparently that is what I am going to do.

I back up as he darts across, slinging the chain around the creature's neck and pulling it tight. Since he's on that side of me now, his boot pushing the mutt's face back, I can run over to the last beast. With a shout, I slash at its neck. It pulls to the side before I can land anything lethal, but it still yelps in pain from the gash near its throat. Turning on me, it growls and lunges.

"Ack!" I leap to the side, the mutt's ear brushing against my arm as it goes past. Before I can draw another breath, I swing the sword at its neck again. I can't hit its throat at this angle, but I still get the blade in deep enough to send it into a stagger. It falls back over a row of rocks, but it isn't bleeding out yet.

"Apollo, three o' clock!" At Trucy's yell, I turn to my right. The two that fell down earlier are coming back into the game, the half-blinded one in front of the other. Trucy hurls a knife at the one farther from me as I shake some of the blood off my sword and get into a defensive stance. When the mutt opens its slavering mouth to get a bite of me, I slam the edge of my sword up into its jaw as hard as I can. Teeth snap together with a clack, and I thrust at its chest while I have the chance. Blood spurts on my hands, and I have to roll away before the mutt falls right on top of me.

Is it dead? I think I got it. All right!

Gasping for breath, I pick myself up and ready the sword again.

A yell and a clanging, clattering crash snaps my attention back to Klavier—who has slammed his mutt into the side of the mountain, bringing a few rocks down on top of it. But the gravelly rain is hardly immobilizing, so he keeps his grip on both ends of the chain to keep strangling the thing.

Back in front of me, my mutt has barely moved, so I sidestep it. The other beast has a knife in each eye now but doesn't seem hindered from targeting us—I'm guessing smell is involved. The one with neck wounds is closer to pouncing.

"Trucy, hit the farther one hard!"

I glance back at Ema just as she hands off a sealed test tube to my district partner. Trucy flings it at the blind mutt's face without any questioning. I can hear the glass shatter before the whole thing explodes.

"Gah!" I draw back on instinct as a scorching, acrid smell overcomes the reek of the monsters' breath. The puff of smoke clears out soon enough, though, leaving the targeted mutt a good fifteen feet down and its friend recoiling.

"Get ready; you'll have to get rid of this one fast." Ema pours water in another tube and gets out a wrapped cube of something.

Klavier hurries back to the main group. "That mutt is more or less taken care of." He nods at my sword. "A coup de grâce couldn't hurt, though."

"Got it." I run past him to the half-buried mutt and cut its neck as far open as seems necessary.

I turn back to the others as Trucy is throwing the second test tube. It hits the mutt with neck wounds and bursts into a bright purple flame. With a series of short howls, the beast staggers back, shaking its head madly. The fire across its face dies down, but a few spurts of orange flame have started a bit farther back. The mutt madly scrapes its face against the rocks before turning tail and running. Its cries of pain fade into the distance as Ema cackles.

...Supposing I _am_ the only sane one in this alliance.

The last mutt standing is still some distance below us, tottering around. I'm not sure if it's stunned or if it honestly isn't sure where we are after taking a splash of chemicals to the nose. Klavier lunges forward to slam a triple-coiled section of chain into its head. In its state, it has no chance of dodging, and it doesn't try to come back once it's skidded and fallen down ten feet.

Lowering my sword, I stand for a minute listening to myself pant. All of the mutts here are down, and a look around tells me that the fourth one is continuing to flee.

"Whoo!" Trucy throws her arms in the air and laughs.

Smiling, Klavier takes a seat as Ema stretches and reclines with a grin.

It's over. We actually did it. We took on four huge mutts and _won_!

"Ha!" I cross my arms. "How's that for a couple of untrained tributes?"

"You... might want to wipe the blood off your sword before you sheath it, Apollo." Ema rubs her forehead as she slides her glasses back up to their usual perch.

"Right, of course!" I take the sword back out immediately. "I was just..." Trying to to be cool for a minute. One minute. Why can't you give me that much?

"Ema!" Trucy whirls around, fists clenched. "What was that? It was amazing!" She pauses before turning toward Jinxie and waving her back over. The 8 stays half-hidden behind a rock for a few moments before tiptoeing toward us.

Ema tilts her head back and smirks, arms folded. "That was science in action. Pure, unadulterated, and safety-free." She twists a lock of hair between her fingers. "Actually, we probably shouldn't have thrown the second one so close, but I didn't want to hit any of Trucy's throwing knives with it."

"Why not?" Trucy bobs on her feet.

Ema regains her smirk. "The end product in that reaction burns skin. It probably dealt some extra damage to the mutt, besides the actual reaction setting him on fire." She sniggers, tossing her wadded-up surgical gloves into a crevice between rocks.

"Thanks, then!" Trucy looks over her shoulder at the mutt I slayed myself. "I guess I do have to take those back out now..." One corner of her mouth flicks into a grossed-out grimace, so I wave her off.

"Don't worry, I can get them." I sidestep Klavier to get to the mutt I personally slayed but pause.

"A-Are you all right?"

Hands still on his rolled-up pants leg, he glances up at me. A moment ago, his focus was on the gash across the back of his calf.

"The bleeding's under control," he says, tightening the strip of cloth he has wrapped around the top of the wound. "I can't feel it yet, but it shouldn't be anything I can't handle." He smiles. "So, yes. I'm all right."

I glance over myself to see if I've missed any gaping wounds, but I think I'm good. As I kneel to retrieve Trucy's knife from the mutt's eye, I notice that Klavier's shirt has suddenly gotten shorter.

"...You know, I have bandages." I grip the knife handle and put a foot on the mutt's head for leverage.

"Well, you didn't offer them quickly enough." He pulls his bangs into order. "I'm sure our mad scientist would use up plenty in dressing changes, anyway."

"Have they been changed at all yet?" I glance over my shoulder at Ema, who's slouching. Her eyes are open, but she's definitely not cackling about the joy of science anymore. "Ema?"

She barely stirs, but Trucy scampers up to check on her. After a few prods with little response, my district partner checks the bandages by lifting up the back of Ema's jacket. Wrinkles shoot across the red cloth as her grip tightens.

"She's bleeding!"


	22. Ebbing Adrenaline

I drop Trucy's knife and hurry over to the girls. Jinxie scuttles backwards as I sling one of my backpack straps off my arm and come to a stop.

"When did she get injured?" I fling the main leather flap open and fumble to find the bandages.

Trucy tugs one of Ema's sleeves off and pulls the jacket away to the side. "I didn't see anything come at her. Did you slip?" She gives Ema's shoulder a little shake.

Ema manages a moan that's clearly a negatory. "Just adrenaline? Bleeding can..."

The plastic on the bandages comes apart with a loud, high-pitched rip. She doesn't seem to mind the interruption.

"...give away lying. Like, a stress response from lying can... accelerate heart rate, increase blood pressure, tense muscles... Pretty sure it's a sympathetic system thing, so this might be the same kind of situation." Exhaling, she lifts her arms out of the way as Trucy gets to the bandages. The entire section over her back is stained crimson, but I'm not sure how much is fresh. I can assume that it's too much to be good.

Folding the top flap of plastic back so the sticky side won't interfere with anything, I let Klavier remove a wad of gauze and start unrolling it. Trucy tugs the old bandages down, just enough to be out of the way, and he starts wrapping the wound immediately. I only catch a glimpse—it seems like a pretty long horizontal gash, but it's still less than halfway across her back.

"You still hanging in there?" I try to make eye contact with Ema, but her eyelids are drooping too much.

"Mm." She tilts her head a bit as Jinxie picks her jacket up and silently folds it. "Not feeling well... Not unconscious yet."

"All right. Stay with us."

"What do you think I'm trying to do?"

"...Right."

The bandage is passed between Trucy and Klavier, and they keep wrapping until the roll is up. The blood hasn't soaked all the way through, at least. Maybe her theory was right and, now that the excitement is gone, she's back to normal. Short a bit more blood, but back to normal.

I rub my wrist under the bracelet. Lie detection, huh? I wonder if my bracelet works on a similar principle... Although I would think it could only respond to _me_ tensing muscles.

Ema is thoroughly slumped now, although the bleeding seems to have come under control. Trucy rolls the edge of the 7's shirt back down once the old, soaked bandage is cut away. There's only so much space around one person, so I stay over here and call, "How's her pulse?"

Klavier checks it at her wrist, keeping an eye on her watch. "Fast." He sets her hand down. "Is there any safe way to make her drink?"

I rest my right hand in the crook of my elbow and tap my forehead with the left. "Well, you're not supposed to give an unconscious person food or water." They didn't emphasize it much at the first-aid station—probably because we're supposed to be more concerned about our own well-being—but they did mention it.

"Ema?" Trucy reaches around from the back and flicks the top of her cheek a few times. "Ema." My district partner shakes her head. "She's out."

Klavier lets go of his water bottle with a sigh. "Later, then. For now, it might be a good idea to set out. We can't hope to clean up our mess, but we can at least make it to a less distinctive place." He gets to his feet in one swift motion and immediately cries out, his right leg buckling.

"Whoa!" I have to grab his elbow to keep him from toppling over.

"Thanks." He stops and pushes himself up more carefully with a long exhale. "Well. I can feel it now." His calf spasms a little, but he's prepared enough not to fall over this time. "Herr Forehead, I believe you were retrieving a few knives for Fräulein Magician?"

"Ah, right." I start to climb back down. I managed to get the first one most of the way out, so it's not much of a problem. It takes a minute to get down to the next mutt, though, and a knife is buried to the hilt in its right eye. Remind me not to make Trucy angry...

I grip the handle hard and start tugging. It refuses to come out easily. It's pretty much stuck—

—_stuck on his jacket_—

With a gasp, I let go and pull back. He's dead—there's no point in—in—

"I can get them if you're having that much trouble."

Jolted into the present, I take a minute to locate the voice and look up the mountainside. Klavier is peering down, a different dressing over his leg and a shining parachute on the rocks with him.

"No, I'm fine!" I take a deep breath. "I'm Apollo Justice and I'm fine." Turning back to the mutt, I stomp on its head and give the knife another try. This is Trucy's knife, in a Capitol mutt's eye. Nothing to get upset about. Just... helping out my district partner.

The knife comes out with a _schlorp_, and I set it down before going for the next one. It's not as hard to get free.

By the time I clean off the blades and bring them back to Trucy, the prickling in my eyes has gone away.

* * *

><p>The next mountain is within sight when a large shoulder bag blocks our path. I come to a stop, and no one accidentally runs into me from behind.<p>

"What is it?" Trucy ducks to the side to see around me.

"Just a bag, as far as I can tell. Is someone else around?" I scan the area, but it looks like it's only us. I don't see any wires or anything attached to the bag, either.

"It seems to be in disorder." Klavier takes the opportunity to set Ema down for a minute. "I imagine someone dropped it."

"Just randomly, though?" I frown. "This doesn't exactly look like a murder scene."

"Perhaps the owner dropped it to flee?" he suggests.

"It doesn't look that heavy..." I lower myself to place a hand on the strap. Nothing shakes or explodes. That's a good sign.

Klavier leans against the wall of rock, his injured leg crossed behind the other. "Or an attack could have happened at night, when the sleeping tribute was chased away without thinking to grab it. In any case, I doubt we need to take too many extra precautions."

I tug the back toward me and let go, stepping back. Still no reaction. Still no one approaching. I guess it really is safe.

Breath held, I unzip the main pocket and pry it open. Inside is some red fabric and a water bottle, empty. A side pocket has some crumbs, but that's all.

"Well, better than nothing!" Trucy's right behind me now. "What's the red thing?"

I pull it out—as it unfolds, I have to keep pulling.

"Ooh, a scarf!" She snatches it. "I can use this for magic tricks!"

"Er... Great. Have fun." I pick up the bag by the strap. "There's no reason to leave a perfectly good bag here, right?"

"Right. I can carry it." Trucy takes it and slings it over her shoulder. "We can put the mutt meat inside, too."

Klavier watches her slide the parachute-wrapped parcels into the bag. "I still doubt that's going to be any good as food."

"Well, we won't know until we try." I retrieve the water bottle so Trucy can zip the pocket shut. "And it's not like we can keep getting every single meal from your sponsors."

He smiles. "Are you sure?"

"Considering it's past noon and we've had no sign of lunch being sent, I would say yes," I grumble. "I don't care how many screaming girls are throwing money at you; you don't have an infinite amount of funds, and they should be spent wisely."

Snapping, he says, "I would consider guaranteed-edible food a worthwhile investment."

"Yes, but you can find that in the arena. Some medicines and other things, not so much." I slouch. "Unless your edibility standard is honestly that high. But no one outside of the Capitol could afford that kind of food every day."

He laughs lightly, flipping his bangs with a quick head motion. "Considering my brother is a victor and I'm a nationwide rock star—" his grin widens—"I'd have to say that's not true."

You rich little snot.

Trucy folds her arms and gazes up at the rest of the mountain. "So I guess your odds of not getting reaped were pretty good, huh?"

He looks to the side. "I'm not sure if I would say that..."

Really? But his brother became a victor before he ever reached tessarae age. So if it's only the basic minimum of paper slips, he had a pretty unfair shot at making it to nineteen unscathed.

Unless—! Unless the reapings are unfair...! He wouldn't dare to say any more out loud, but if they can be rigged, why wouldn't the Capitol want to see a victor's younger sibling fighting for another win? Instant celebrity, instant buzz for all the viewers.

I... had been wondering why he'd do so much District 7 heavy lifting if he didn't need the money. Was he so sure he could end up in the Games that he was taking precautions?

"Are we resting or just dawdling?" He glances between Trucy and me before checking behind him and stiffening. "Ah—"

"Jinxie?" Trucy scurries over the rocks, and I lean after her to see past Klavier. Ema is still lying against the rocks, but now so is Jinxie. I check the former's pulse while Trucy keeps going.

"I suppose we're resting, then." Klavier stands evenly between them and takes the weight off his bad leg. "Is she asleep?"

Trucy nods, frowning and pulling away. "She must be exhausted after all her scares yesterday. She didn't sleep at all during my watch, either..."

Satisfied that Ema isn't circling the drain yet, I press a finger to my forehead. "She was wide awake by the end of my watch."

"And I doubt she even slept with one eye open before she found us, the poor Fräulein. Let her nap, then. Sunset is a while away yet."

"Right." I find a clean-looking spot and sit, my feet tingling at the sudden relief. "In the meantime, we could roast some of the meat. We haven't gained much ground, but if we're stopping, anyway..."

Klavier doesn't look so sure, but Trucy hops to her feet. "Good point. There are enough bushes around to get a fire going, I'm sure." She surveys the area for a way to go before she pauses. "Ema?"

Scooting around, I find Ema still slumped against the rocks but gripping the collar of her jacket and shivering.

"Hey! Are you awake?" I get up and approach her, but she doesn't respond. "Ema?"

"Hmm." Klavier sidesteps me to check the bandage, but there's no more bleeding.

It's a pretty nice day, as far as weather is concerned. Maybe it's colder if you're not moving around much, or if you've lost a lot of blood.

I zip up her jacket, but she still goes into shivers after a few moments.

"Here." Trucy nudges me to the side and starts wrapping the muffler around Ema's neck. "Might as well."

"Yeah." I keep an eye on the 7 girl, who seems at least a little more comfortable now.

"Grr..."

Blinking, I look back at the others, but they seem as startled as me. I'm sure I would have seen something approaching—

"You dare imprison me?" The voice is so low and growling I wouldn't peg it as Jinxie's if I didn't see her mouth moving as she walks, swaying, toward us. Her eyes seem pretty unfocused. Is she okay?

"That loathsome, no-good—" Her foot comes down on the edge of a rock, and she careens to the side too far to recover.

"Jinxie!" I jump, managing to catch her wrist. She still falls a bit and swings around, her knees smacking into the rocks.

Startled, she finally brings her eyes into focus—"Eek!"—and immediately smacks my forehead. At least she doesn't have any charms on hand to stick to me.

"Jinxie!" Trucy takes her other hand and helps her up.

"Wh-what happened? Where am I?" She looks around but freezes when she sees me. "Th-the Red Demon!"

At... least she's talking. If not saying anything I want to hear...

"No, Polly's a good demon, remember?" Trucy nudges her a little farther onto the path. "He saved you!"

Ha ha, I mean, it was kind of a reflex, but...

"Thank you, O Terrible One!" She actually bows down. "I-I'm not sure what I can give you in exchange, but please don't take my soul!"

And maybe that's a little too much appreciation...

Of course, everything is made so much better by Klavier cracking up behind us.

"I'm not taking any souls!" I slam my fists down. "You don't have to pay me back, just... try not to fall off the side of the mountain. Also, did you take off the slips on your forehead? I thought that was your district token."

"Wh-what?" She touches her forehead and recoils. "I-I have to reapply them...!" It only takes a moment for her to find them on the ground and plaster them to her forehead again.

Trucy gives her a smile. "So are you feeling a little bit better now?"

Jinxie clasps her own shoulders. "I-I guess. I..." She takes another look around and shivers.

"It's okay. You don't have to cheer up all at once." Trucy holds her hands behind her back. "It's good to have you back, though!"

"Thank you..." Her gaze flicks around a few more times—how disoriented can she be?—before she lets a breath out. "What are we doing right now...?"

"Just resting for a bit." Klavier smiles at her. "We can get back to traveling once you feel well enough, Fräulein Priestess."

"A-all right."


	23. Imminent Danger

We get some water at the valley but pass it quickly. It's broad daylight, and we don't need to be sticking around. One stream above us feeds into the valley bed, so we'll follow that upward. I'm sure we can make it to a decent altitude before sundown.

I take a look around as we prepare to tackle the next mountain, but we're alone save for a large bird circling overhead. It's too far for even Trucy to catch, so we'll just have to let the eagle—or falcon? I haven't studied birds much—be. It veers off to the mountain in front of us, anyway.

"I... can walk..." Ema's voice is faint and scratchy, but she's standing. Or at least on her feet, even if most of her weight seems to be pushed onto that tree trunk.

"I don't know that you need to risk it, though." Klavier puts his hands on his hips and smiles at her. "I can still carry you for some distance, no worries."

"Supposing I don't want to be carried."

"You can stay by me," I offer. "Just to have someone to lean on if you have to." I glance at Klavier's calf. "Someone who's not in danger of losing his footing as is."

He rolls his eyes. "Come, now. I made it this far without any trouble."

"Thanks, Apollo," Ema says over him. "Sounds like a... good idea to me."

I nod. "As long as you're feeling up to walking. If you feel yourself starting to slip under, try to let us know."

"Sure..." She pushes herself off the tree and sways a bit before standing upright. Her brow furrows as her hand brushes the end of the scarf. "What...?"

"Oh, we found a muffler on the way here. You looked kind of cold, so—Ema?"

Clenching the muffler with both hands, she stares at the ground.

"Ema?!" Trucy hurries to her side.

The 7 stays frozen to the spot, her shoulders shaking. "Wh-wh...?"

"I-it's not blood or anything, it's just red!" Since that doesn't seem to help, Trucy tries putting a hand on her shoulder.

Ema shrieks and shoves her away with one palm. The motion sends both of them stumbling backward—Trucy recovers, and Klavier catches Ema before she can hit the ground.

She's never reacted like that before...! It wasn't a reflex, it was a memory!

"Ema? Ema." I help Klavier stand her up and seize the other end of the scarf. "It's okay. You don't have to wear it!" I try to unwind it as quickly as possible. Even when I'm done, she clings to the same two handfuls as before.

"Are you all right?" Frowning, Klavier releases her slowly.

"I..." Her grip tightens on the scarf before she looks up, although she doesn't face any of us. "I'm all right. Sorry..." She looks at Trucy, who accepts the apology with a nod.

"Let's... get going already." Wadding up the scarf, she shoves it out of sight into her bag and goes for the forensics bin.

"Ah, n-no—" Jinxie beats her to it. "I can get this."

"Fine..." Frowning, Ema grabs another Snackoo. She has to have had more donated if there's still a few left. "Don't you dare drop it."

Jinxie clutches it to her chest. "I won't!"

And then Ema's striding toward the rocks, shakily but without looking back. I hurry after her, and we only get up one row of rocks before she's slumped against me.

What on earth happened? What's wrong? What was that muffler making her think of? What happened to her to hard-wire that kind of response?

I bite my tongue. I can't ask her. This has done her enough damage for today. I'm hardly going to add to it—I learned my lesson with Athena. There's nothing I can really do to help with these things, so... I shouldn't go around dredging those kinds of memories up. I hate not knowing, but I can only dig so deep before I hit something I shouldn't.

So I just keep her arm across my shoulders and walk along.

* * *

><p>"Now that I think about it—" Klavier keeps his voice down, in case Ema regains consciousness while he's throwing her over his shoulder—"I believe her sister used to wear a red muffler."<p>

My forehead tightens. "Used to?"

He nods solemnly and turns to face ahead.

Then, I take it her sister isn't around anymore. But what on earth happened to provoke that response earlier? How long ago was it? Is the pain too fresh, or would I be able to help her at all if I got to the bottom of it? I mean, it's good to get some things off your chest. But maybe not all of them. And to be perfectly honest, I kind of want to know for knowledge's sake.

"Polly?" Trucy steps up next to me, hands resting on the shoulder bag. "You want to ask her about it, don't you?"

I rub my scalp. "Is it that easy to tell...?" But that's right. Trucy is my accountability partner. I don't have to figure out everything by myself. "Would it be all right to?"

"Hmm." She swings the bag around behind her back to climb over a taller step between rocks. "I couldn't tell all that much, but it was definitely a painful memory... And she didn't seem ready to talk about it."

Letting out a breath, I pull myself up the rocks. The mountain may not be all that steep overall, but if the handholds get any farther apart, we're going to have to break out the cables. "She did charge off pretty quickly. I guess I should let it go."

"I think so, too. She can decide to tell us herself, but I don't think we should be prying. A girl's mind can be a sensitive place."

I nod, turning ahead to see Klavier stopped.

"Do you need me to carry her for a while?" I call.

He tenses. "Shh!"

Pausing, I strain to listen for whatever he thinks he's heard. The stream is babbling almost right next to us, so it's a bit hard to make out other sounds. I switch to a visual lookout instead. Maybe he heard that bird from earlier. If it's close enough, I bet Trucy could knife it, and we'd have a more normal dinner.

Of course, if it's not an animal...

A chill crosses my forearms, but I keep my grip on the rocks steady. We just fought off a bunch of mutts this morning. The Gamemakers have no reason to send any other tributes our way.

Right! We're fine! It's probably just a rabbit or something. Just dinner. Nothing to—

A screech makes me jump, but then I see that hawk again. It's a lot closer to us now; Trucy could—

It flies back around an outcropping opposite the stream. Well. It's not like we don't have plenty of meat right now, anyway. We'll just keep climbing until we find a good spot to set up camp. Another cave would be nice; the wind gets pretty cold at night. We kind of lost our nice blanket to Phineas, too.

"Eeeek!"

Jinxie's shriek nearly startles me into losing my footing. "What?" I twist, craning my neck to see her staring past where the bird disappeared.

She flinches back but glances wide-eyed between the rest of us. "The demons! Th-they're coming for us!"

"What demons?" Trucy scrambles past me and pulls herself far enough up to see past the ridge. "Aah!" She whips back around, hurrying back to her former position. "Everybody, hurry, this way! It's the Careers!"

"Whaaaat?!" I might as well react as loudly as I want to since Jinxie has already given away our position. "H-how?!" I climb after her, toward the stream.

Klavier, bringing up the rear, grits his teeth. "We were careless. We should have gotten out of the valley as soon as possible, water or no water."

I swallow, climbing farther up to a better part of the stream. It's not exactly a bridge, but we can jump across more easily. "We were all dehydrated. It was a necessary risk..." But maybe still not worth it, if the entire pack is after us...!

I get a running start and leap to the other side. The impact jars my knees, but I hurry out of the way regardless. Trying not to breathe too shallowly, I look back. The Careers have got the sun behind them—did they plan that?—but I can easily make out five figures. I don't know if that's the whole alliance, but it's sure more than I'd care to deal with.

The Careers are seriously coming! We haven't even recovered from this morning! We're still dehydrated and hungry, my arms are sore, Klavier's limping, Ema's unconscious, and does Jinxie even have a way to defend herself?

We—we have to lose them somehow!

I help Trucy up after me as Jinxie makes the jump. We both have to steady her since the forensics bin is occupying her arms. Klavier comes last, Ema chained to him for the moment. Landing hard, he immediately lists to his injured side, but Trucy and I manage to right him.

The Careers are past the ridge that obscured them for way too long. How could they have snuck up on us so easily? They're trained killers, but...

"Keep running, you milksops!" Even with the sun in my eyes, I can hear the cold grin in Simon's voice. "Tiring yourselves only makes it easier on us—and should your haste send you tumbling down the mountainside, all the better."

Sh-shoot, he's right! If we keep running—!

No! He's trying to manipulate us, isn't he? He thinks we could get away, so he wants to keep us from trying!

H-he still has a point, though. Trying to outrun them on this kind of surface can't end well, especially if they've been trained for this situation.

Ugh! It's a dire game of Simon Says, and I feel like we'll lose no matter what we choose...!

"I can't outrun them."

Startled, I don't realize how far Klavier is behind us until I'm looking back at him. He's almost closer to the Careers than the rest of us. Panting, he unwraps the chain around Ema and pulls her off his shoulder. "At least get her out of here!"

Trucy darts toward him and slips her arms under Ema's. Trembling, she looks between the impending Careers and Klavier, and her expression hardens. "I'm not letting you fight them alone. Jinxie!" She pivots, struggling to hold Ema out. "Get Ema away from here. I know you can carry her to safety."

Jinxie stammers but hurries over. "B-but her supplies—"

"Just leave them here!" Trucy thrusts Ema into the 8's arms. "She won't mind, I promise. Now run!"

"O-okay!" Struggling to cradle Ema, she takes a step back before turning and scurrying off.

Gasping, Trucy faces me. "Apollo..." Her voice is steady, but she still looks close to tears.

The Careers are less than fifteen feet away.

A shudder goes through my shoulders as I draw my sword. "I can't very well run now, can I? Let's... not die."

"Okay!" She readies two knives and gives my elbow a squeeze. "Thank you."

Does me staying really tilt the odds in our favor any more? We're still outnumbered and outclassed, and I can't even imagine us defeating them.

But we're going to, anyway, somehow...! I have to believe that!

Here comes Justice!


	24. Clash

Simon is straight across from me, so I guess I'm taking him on. With our numbers, I might have to fight his sister, too. The skinny guy from 1 and the pair from 4 are up to Trucy and Klavier. Both of our groups are advancing in straight lines, so we might not have to mix it up much.

I suddenly remember the two pairs of sunglasses, but it's too late to get at them now.

A few feet in front of me, Simon draws his long, thin sword from its hilt and swings it out at me. My throat constricts in fear, but I manage to dodge the rush and parry the next swipe with a clash.

He holds the sword out in front of him with a grin. "So you found a blade of your own after all. Shall we see how well I taught you, Justice-dono?"

In a quick but fluid motion, the katana surges toward my neck. I duck back and bring my sword around, but he swats it away with the broad side of his blade. I keep my grip, though, and go for a stab while his sword is down. He avoids me by pivoting away and then turning back, his sword coming around with him. His aim is too short, though, and I'm in more danger of my sword getting hit than anything else.

Something's off. I'm not sure what yet, but—

I parry another slash and lunge for his chest. He knocks my hands down with the butt of his sword, the grip hitting my bracelet with a clang. I keep hold of my sword without much trouble, though, and pull it up in time to block another slash. It's still too far to hit me...

...!

"All right, what do you want?!" I keep my sword ready but focus on his face for a moment.

His eyes flash. "Your head rolling down the mountainside! What else?" With a shout, he swings his sword at my neck.

I jump back, the tip of his blade scratching across my jacket's collar. "Simon!" I plant my feet on the ground after a glance back to see how much space I have. "You and I both know you're not trying to kill me right now!"

He falters, and I make a stab at his stomach, but he parries it easily. "Fine. Perhaps I did want to test my pupil first. But if you'd rather me take you seriously, I can very well accommodate your last wishes!" He lunges with an upward slice I can't bring my sword up in time to counter. The glaring blade cuts into my chin as I panic and stumble back.

"N-no, it's okay! You can just test me! That's fine!" I have to take a hand off the sword to steady myself against the rocks. As I do so, I glance to the side to make sure I'm not about to run into Trucy, but she's another level up. I can only tell she's still standing before I have to look back at Simon—just in time to duck under another slash.

I'm sure the others need help, though...! But what am I supposed to do when my arms are shaking from a single battle? How can I drive off an expert swordsman who knows every single technique I have because he taught me himself? How on earth am I supposed to turn this around?

Well, if he knows all of the techniques, I'll just have to improvise!

I dodge another stroke of the blade—did that just get some of my hair?!—and grip my sword hard. In relentless pursuit, Simon swings for my head from my left. I could block—but he's expecting that!

I take another step back and spin around hard, slamming my sword into his in the same direction it's already going. The added burst of force sends it colliding into the rock face. And for one moment, I have the katana lodged between my sword and the rocks, and Simon's not about to let go. With a shout and all the power I can muster, I slam my foot into his stomach while he's vulnerable.

The katana slides with him, screeching against the rock, as he goes back. He regains his footing well before the stream comes up behind him, although I've at least gotten some distance out of this. Maybe I dulled his blade a little, too.

Just as I'm getting my stance back together, a boom rattles the rocks above me. I shoot a look up while I have the chance. A bit of smoke is billowing from about a foot behind me and to the right. In front of it, Trucy is coughing, though she doesn't look back as the District 1 tribute behind Simon's sister grins and hurls something small from his utility belt. It lands a bit closer to Trucy and explodes.

The stone under my feet rattles as Trucy jumps to the side, away from me. Klavier is far away enough to avoid her, but the distraction allows the bulky guy with the bandages on his head to slam and pin Klavier's skull against the mountainside. I can hear his cry of pain over the rest of the din.

I barely glimpse the 4 girl clutching her chest as I turn back towards Simon's moving sword. I'm a moment late blocking and get a bite of blade into my shoulder for punishment. Clenching my teeth, I force his katana away, but he still manages to make the next attack. Eyes burning from the smoke, I pull back, but he transforms the slash into a lunge that forces me to parry.

"Sasha!" I recognize Marlon's voice, but I don't dare look up. Sasha's his district partner, right? Did someone—

A cannon fires.

—kill her...? I-it must have been Klavier, because Trucy would never. Every Career here would have a throwing knife in the heart if that was what she wanted.

But Sasha _was _hit in the heart—

No! I have another battle to worry about right now!

Simon slashes at my neck again, and I dodge back.

My right foot hits air.

With a yelp, I spread my arms out and try to break my fall, my sword clashing against the rocks as I tumble. I manage to keep the blade away from me, somehow, but I don't come to a stop for another few seconds. How far did I fall? Where's Simon?

I scrabble to turn myself face-up, scraping my sword across my boot in the process. Holding the weapon in front of me, I struggle to get to a sitting position, but Simon is climbing down faster than I can get up.

"You brat!" calls a girl just before Trucy screams.

I-I haven't heard Klavier rattling any chains around, either!

We're d-dead... We're all dead...! Why did I stay, why did Trucy stay, why...?!

Simon stands over me and raises his sword before pausing. It doesn't take much concentration to figure out why. The mountainside is rumbling—another explosion? T-to finish Trucy off?

But Marlon shouts in alarm, and a growing thundering nearly blocks out Aura's startled cry. I dare to crane my neck toward the mountaintop.

A huge boulder tumbles down, right over where I stood moments before, and it's still coming.

Swearing, Simon dashes back out of the way, and I pull my legs under me while I have the chance. The vibration nearly knocks me back down, but the boulder goes past without hitting either of us.

What was that?

Gasping for breath, I get to my feet in time to jump at a booming voice.

"Desist at once!"

What...? Wait... It couldn't be...

Simon has lowered his sword, a hand placed on his chest as he growls, so I turn to look uphill.

Standing tall, Fulbright grins down at us and salutes with two dirt-encrusted fingers. "In justice we trust!"

Simon steps up a few rows of rocks to more effectively glare at him. "Fool Bright!" Dropping his hand, he widens his eyes at the 10. "I recall you swearing to stay back and protect Cykes-dono."

Fulbright doesn't falter in the slightest. "Indeed! But there is one thing you've failed to consider. When Lady Justice is in danger, I have a sacred duty to protect and uphold her! This battle—" he punches the air and keeps his fist clenched—"is clearly unfair! A mockery of justice that I cannot withstand!"

Aura scowls at him as Trucy sits up shakily. "You idiot. This isn't supposed to be fair. Quit trying to make a spectacle."

"Isn't supposed to be fair?!" He stomps a foot down. "You're the one who's mistaken! Fairness must be upheld in all arenas of life, and this one is no exception!" He rests his fists against his hips before striding to stand beside Klavier, who's slumped against the rocks and holding a hand to his head.

"What are you doing?" Ted hisses. "Is this a betrayal?"

"This is no such thing. As I always have and as I always will—I stand on the side of justice!"

I'm guessing he doesn't mean my name, but I will take it either way.

Simon tenses as his gaze lifts from Fulbright. I follow his line of sight, and my breath catches in my throat.

Athena!

There's a small spot of blood on her head, but she looks fine otherwise. And she's stepping up to stand with Fulbright, on our side, a large knife in hand.

"Cykes-dono. Do you realize where you are standing?"

Meeting his gaze, she nods. "It looks like this fight has gone on long enough."

"Hmph." Simon gives her a black look but sheathes his sword and turns around. "These curs are no longer worth the collateral damage."

And just like that, it's five against three again—but this time in our favor.

"We almost have them!" Ted bares his teeth. "Why would we stop now?"

Marlon lowers his head, words low. "I'm up for letting 'em off the hook for now." It's hard to tell from this angle, but I think he's staring at the spot where Sasha died. Is he really the only one concerned about losing her?

"Are you kidding? This girl wrecked my drill, and you just want to let her go?" The 2 girl reaches into her backpack and takes out a knife. "Fine! Ted and I can take you all on by ourselves!"

"Aura!"

She freezes and scowls down at her brother, who returns the gesture. "I believe I just said they are no longer worth it."

She growls. "Who died and made _you_ king?"

Simon slams his hand down on the rocks, and she cringes, although I suspect it's just a reflex. "This fight is over! Let the cowards live with the knowledge they're only still breathing because of another fool's actions." He eyes Klavier, then Trucy, then me. "And keep living in fear, knowing that it will not happen again."

He turns his back to us and starts walking. Marlon follows him, while Ted looks up and down the line of us before huffing and going after them. Aura's cold gaze settles on Athena.

"Don't start feeling like you're invincible just because Simon's looking after you. You're not." Putting a hand to her cheek, she smiles sweetly. "In fact, you just might fall victim to some roving tribute trying to get at our supplies tonight. Oh, wouldn't that be a shame?"

Snarling, Athena leans in toward her. "You—! You're half the reason Simon couldn't get any sleep last night!"

Aura watches her evenly. "Oh, and remind me what that other half is? Something about having to kill that girl so you wouldn't get your skull crushed in? Is that my fault, too? Because it sure sounds like it's yours."

Athena twitches but keeps her fists clenched.

"That's enough, you two!" Fulbright glowers at them. "We're keeping the others waiting. On that note—" he spins to face my alliance—"is there anything else I can help you with before I must go? You still look pretty downtrodden, after all."

I'm surprised Aura manages not to punch him.

"Well, we have bandages." And I suppose having you and Athena stick with us isn't an option.

Stiffly, I climb up to Trucy's level. The side of her neck is bruised, but I don't see any open wounds. She might be a little burnt from some of Ted's attacks, though.

"Any burn cream?" I try.

"I'm afraid not," Fulbright says.

Athena shuffles through the bag at her hip to retrieve a pill bottle. "Here." She puts it in Klavier's hand. "These are good for headaches."

Although he still hasn't wiped away the stream of blood on the side of his face, he manages to smile up at her. "Thank you."

Fulbright glances at all of us—including Jinxie, who's come within a few feet of us but only stands there shaking—before grinning widely. "Then I guess I'm done here!" He salutes, his teeth shining. "In justice we trust!"

So it's actually over. We're all okay... We're not going to die here!

Barely aware of myself, I burst out laughing and salute him back. "In justice we trust!"


	25. Communication

Athena bids us goodbye and good luck as she hurries after the Careers. And then it's just the four of us. Alive and... somewhat well.

A deep ache settles into my arms before I finally pull myself into action. We can celebrate and relax after we're patched up.

"Trucy? How are you doing?" I grip her shoulder.

Eyelids still half-closed, she looks up at me. "All right..." She rubs the side of her neck and cringes.

"Where all are you hurt?" I start down from her shoulder. Both of her forearms are mottled red on the outside edge, and her right palm has clearly been pinched by something, although it's barely bleeding. Her pants and the front of her shirt are intact, so no damage there. The fabric between her shoulder blades is burnt, though, and it looks worse than her forearms. Her face seems fine, and she wouldn't have put her hat back on if her head was bleeding.

So it doesn't look like she took much from Aura, but... what was the District 1 boy throwing? Some kind of explosive, but was it the same as what Ema mixed up? I bet she could tell. We could probably treat this better if we knew.

I glance at Klavier, sure Jinxie must be tending to him, but she's standing in the same place, the bloodstained part of her sleeve wadded up tightly in her fist.

"Um..." I'm tired enough it's not actually that hard to keep my voice down. "Jinxie?"

She literally jumps but manages to look at me without turning and running.

"Did you set Ema down somewhere?"

She nods hard enough I can't confuse it for her shaking.

"It looks like we're safe here now. Can you fetch her back?"

She nods but doesn't move from her spot.

"Jinxie?" Trucy glances at her and sighs, looking down. "It must have reminded her of the bloodbath..."

No kidding. She looks more horrified than when she first came to us.

"It's okay." Klavier has turned himself around to face her, although he's still sitting and slouched. "We're in no rush. Everyone's doing fine. Just get to her when you feel ready to, or point us in the right direction. We can all go together if you'd rather."

Jinxie nods. I'm not sure if it was in agreement or just a general sign she heard him. Her communication skills are a bit limited at the moment.

Well, there's not much I can do about that. What I can do is wash some wounds and get bandages in place. I haven't passed out or anything, but my shoulder's still bleeding a little bit, and Klavier and Trucy should rinse off, too. Thankfully the stream's not too far, and it seemed reasonably clean and clear.

"Can everyone make it to the stream?" I start pushing myself to my feet, though not without cringing. I must have smacked my knee pretty hard falling down the rocks.

"I think so." Eyes a bit more alert, Trucy follows me up. "Klavier?"

"Right..." Gripping the steep rock behind him, he pulls himself up, and his arms shake immediately. He gets to his feet but presses his back to the stone and grasps both sides of his head with a tight grimace.

"Are you all right?" It's kind of a dumb question, but I'm sure he has the brains to take it in context—if they haven't been mashed to a pulp from Marlon's attack.

He gets out a laugh that's a little bark-like and not very convincing. "My hair must be a terrible mess... Let's—" he cringes as he lowers his hands—"get to the stream."

He has trouble putting one foot in front of the other, but we all manage to get to the riverbed. Jinxie, meanwhile, seems to have finally registered our request and has hurried off to get Ema. Well, hopefully to get Ema.

As I struggle to shuffle off my backpack, Trucy stations herself on her knees and carefully lowers her forearms into the water. She lets out a long breath through tight lips.

"Helping?" I ask, setting my bag on level ground and carefully pulling fabric away from my shoulder.

She nods. "It's nice and cool."

I splash a few fingers across the surface to confirm this. "Good. That can stop some of the bleeding."

By the time Trucy and I have helped each other clean up, Klavier has managed to wash the blood off his head on his own.

"How much bandage do you think you'll need?" I call as I scoot to my backpack and locate the gauze.

"Oh, I should be fine without." Sitting up with some effort, he wrings out a few handfuls of his hair and ruffles it back up. "I only had a few cuts on the side that hit the rocks. A couple of dabs of ointment should be all I need."

You seem to be struggling an awful lot for just a few cuts...

I push the thought to the back burner and get out the bandages. I might have a few scratches from falling on the rocks myself. I'll check once my shoulder is taken care of.

Patting the area dry with my jacket, I look up at Trucy. "Could you help me wrap this up?"

"Sure." She gets the ointment from Klavier first but starts applying the gauze before long. As much as it hurts, I try to keep my arm lifted up out of the way.

"Do we intend to stay here until the rest of the Fräuleins get back?"

I exhale. "It's probably a good idea, yes. We might all get lost otherwise."

"In that case..." He pulls off his jacket and drapes it over the closest rock. "I might as well freshen up while we're here. It can't be a good idea to stick around, and who knows when we'll find another good stream?"

"All right, then." I mean, we've been hiking around for two days, so I feel a little grimy, too. It's starting to cool down, though, and I don't want to take any chances myself. The rocks are pretty slippery around here, too...

"Actually, maybe you shouldn't." I look back over at him to find his feet bare, his supply pouches on the ground, and his shirt draped over his jacket. I sigh and watch Trucy finish up my bandages. "If you slip—which you very well might—it won't end well."

He picks up the length of chain at his feet. "Are you sure?" He winds it around a jutting rock twice and locks it in place. "This seems like a pretty good anchor to me. You can even keep hold of it yourself, Herr Forehead." He grins.

I slouch. "Why do I have to do it?"

Resealing the bandages, Trucy crinkles her brow. "Wait, are you just jumping into the river?" She turns around, pausing while she's presumably distracted by Klavier's state of dress. Then she spies the parachute floating down.

"Oh!" Tossing the package of gauze at my backpack, she hurries underneath the donation, snatching it before it can fall onto the rocks. She immediately pulls her shoulders back with a wince but shakes it off and looks over the new loot. It's a small jar, but I can't read the words from here.

"What is it? Medicine?"

She nods, turning around. "Burn cream!" Smiling wide, she waves at the sky. "Thank you, whoever sent this! Or anyone who contributed! I really appreciate it!"

"Ha." Grinning, I fold my arms. "Well, you deserve it. Here, I can get the burn on your back."

"Okay, thanks." She scurries back over as she unscrews the lid.

"At least keep your foot on the chain, all right?" Klavier dips a foot into the water before finding a good place to wedge his foot.

"Right." I scoot and plant my feet on the chain as Trucy sits down in front of me.

She slicks up one forearm before another parachute comes down, and another.

"Oh, wow!" Trucy pauses but decides to get cream on her other arm instead of running after the donations. "Three in a row!"

"Yeah, kind of sudden, isn't it?" I wonder what brought that on. It's been a little while since the battle, but that must be it. We haven't done anything else but wash up, so unless there was a surge of donation money from Klavier's fangirls seeing his shirt off...

...No way. If that got that much money, there would be a much bigger precedent in the Games. There was a little lag between sending the supplies and us getting them, that's all. There could be any number of reasons for that.

Once all of Trucy's burns are taken care of, she hurries over to the new supplies. The chains under my feet jerk, but a glance back tells me Klavier's pulling himself out of the water.

"This one is a bunch of chicken and apple slices, and this one's, um, a bundle of firewood, I guess."

Once Klavier's safe on dry land, I take my feet off the chain and get up. "The food isn't cooked, I guess?" It sure smells like it is... And come to think of it, we never had lunch. I don't know if I have the strength to keep lifting food to my mouth at this point, but I'll sure try.

"No, it is. The whole thing's steaming, see?" She turns around to present it to me, but that makes the smell of meat and sweet herbs stronger, and I am _this_ close to snatching the biggest drumstick out of the middle before anyone else can get it.

"Really?" I hear snapping off to my right. "It would be a shame if it went cold before the others made it back."

"I think it needs to cool down a little bit, anyway." Trucy sets the platter down carefully and pulls the parachute away from the other donation. "I guess we don't really need the wood this moment, but it's already bundled up pretty nicely."

"Achtung! As I suspected."

I give Klavier a look, but his eyes are focused some distance past me. I turn my head to check.

Trucy gasps. "Jinxie! Ema!" She waves her arm high before flinching when it stretches her burn.

Sure enough, Jinxie is hurrying back. Ema's in her arms—still unconscious, I guess. That can't be good. But I'm sure we can afford whatever medicine she needs if we can get all of this. She must be doing all right if we haven't gotten anything for her.

"Good." Klavier tugs his shirt down, his jacket dark with water and slung over his shoulder. "I'm sure there's plenty of food for all of us." He adjusts the locks anchoring his chain around the rock before walking slowly to Trucy. "And it's already cooked, hmm?"

She blinks as a water droplet from his hair hits her nose. "Uh-huh." She looks at the wood. "It's weird timing, I guess, but it's not like we won't use it."

He pauses, frowning in thought. "...Ah." With a sigh, he picks up the bundle of sticks. "Let's put this in your shoulder bag by the meat, if you don't mind, Fräulein Magician."

"Huh? Sure."

By the meat...? To cook it, I guess. Is that why we got the wood in the first place? That's a little weird, when we got some fresh food at the exact same time. Clearly we're not going to eat the questionable meat with this steaming platter in front of us. Not for a while, at least.

...But we _are_ going to eat it. Is that what this is about? Klavier seemed pretty disappointed, after all. Is it supposed to be a message that he needs to buckle down and eat some commoner food eventually? It's a pretty vague one.

Then again, the mentors are the ones who send these. I can assume this came from his brother. I wouldn't be surprised at him weaving messages into plain donations, especially if he can time them precisely.

Come to think of it, Klavier seemed to pick up pretty quickly that Ema and Jinxie were on their way back, just because the food was warm. Did he work this out with his mentor before the Games? Or are they on a close enough wavelength they didn't have to?

An ally of mine being on the same wavelength as Kristoph? That's a real pleasant thought... Of course, if that's what it takes to figure it out, and I've caught on, I'd have to be on Kritoph's wavelength, too.

Which is... an even more comforting thought...

Rubbing my forehead, I get my backpack ready to put on.

I wonder if he gave us that stew yesterday at a specific time. We were just at the riverbank talking—

Talking about why Klavier volunteered. If Kristoph intentionally got us the food just then... Was he trying to distract us? Hit at just the right time to keep us from revealing that Klavier is practically here by accident?

N-no way! No one could be that calculating!

I almost snort out loud. I'm talking about Kristoph Gavin here. Of _course_ he could be that calculating.

"Do you want to go ahead and meet them in the middle?" Trucy has her arms folded. "They're going kind of slow..."

"Excellent idea." Klavier slides the forensics bin from the level above us—the top is dented in, so it doesn't close perfectly—and attempts to tuck it under his arm. "Herr Forehead, if you'd carry the platter?"

I sigh and kneel to pick it up. "Sure, if I get the first bite."

"Apollo!" Trucy thrusts her fists against her hips, indignant. "You're sharing with three injured young ladies, and you're going to help yourself first?"

I draw back, hunching my shoulders and rubbing my scalp. "I-I was kidding!" Apparently. "You guys can go first..."

Trucy grins as I pick up the food and start after her. "Okay, good."


	26. Down for the Count

"We should find a place to set up camp." I peer across the rocks for another tunnel, but I can't see anything promising from here. "It'll be dark soon."

"That's true." Klavier takes a slow look around before pushing himself back to his feet. He steps over to pick up Ema.

Trucy wipes some crumbs off her lap and stands up. "How is she doing?"

"I still haven't caught her with her eyes open." He frowns and checks her pulse. "Fast, but not too dangerous yet." With an exhale, he starts to hoist her up.

"Hold it." I offer a hand. "You haven't been walking too steadily since the battle. Maybe you shouldn't..."

He smiles. "The same could be said of you."

I pin my hair spikes to my scalp until they spring back. "I just beat up my knee a little bit..." And the rest of me, but I don't think that messes up my walking as much. "I think I could handle her for a while. Here, you can carry her share of dinner."

"All right." We exchange loads, and I only get a minute to regret my choice before we're moving on.

Ema failing to open her eyes doesn't mean she's been unconscious the whole time. But it still doesn't sound good. She doesn't have a fever, and it doesn't look like her wound has bled much, either. Maybe she's just exhausted? She wasn't in that last battle at all, though, and she didn't do any heavy lifting with the mutts. I don't know what's going on. I hope she's all right, though.

We've struggled ahead for several minutes when a cave comes into view. It's clearly nowhere as deep as our last shelter, but it should be enough to keep us out of the other tributes' view. At least, if they're on this mountain. If they're across from us, we wouldn't be as lucky. Win some, lose some.

"Got enough action today, didn't we?" I park it at the right side of the entrance and set Ema down as carefully as I can.

"More than enough," Trucy sighs, lifting her hat for a moment to brush her hair out with her fingers. "I could sleep straight through my watch if I'm not careful."

"That probably goes for all of us." Klavier leans back against the cave wall and looks out at the mountain across from us. "How long do you think the Careers will leave us alone?"

"They didn't seem very pleased with letting us retreat, did they?" I press on my forehead. "If Fulbright gets his way, I guess we're safe until it would be a fair fight. So, after we've all recovered." It would still be in the Careers' favor then, but they might be able to convince him otherwise.

Klavier glances at the clouds. "With everything that's happened today, I imagine our lovely viewers have enough to chew on. Perhaps we can afford one night without watches."

Hmm... "That sounds pretty risky, though."

"Riskier than foregoing rest when any of us might fall asleep, anyway?" He smiles, tilting his upper half toward me. "Tell you what. You can lie down closest to the outside since you're so good at waking everyone. I'm sure that's all the precaution we need."

I cross my arms with a narrow-eyed look of disbelief. "So your plan is to throw me to the wolves. Great."

He chuckles, while Trucy sits down between us. "I mean, people can only watch one performer—or group!—for so long," she says. "If they need more entertainment, they can chase some of the others around for a little bit. I think we've earned at least one night's sleep."

Klavier snaps. "Sounds reasonable."

I squint at the sky. It's not like I don't want to get a good night's sleep; it just seems like an inherently bad idea. I feel like tributes tend to get breaks once they've been run down a bit... But we did get the Careers right after he mutts. I guess it could be chance. So long as the Careers don't want to give us a boring few death blows in our sleep and the Gamemakers don't drive anything else toward us, we'll be fine.

I'm still not sure about the whole idea when a donation crosses my field of vision. The parachute is pretty big, and once the mass of dark grey is within reach, I can distinguish the individual sleeping bags. They hit the ground softly, and I snag the parachute before the whole parcel can slide down the slope.

Trucy hops to her feet and helps me pull the bags up. There are four bedrolls and a small package on top that turns out to be a knee brace.

"What, do I have a few sponsors after all?" I take the brace out of the packaging as Trucy separates the sleeping bags.

"It could have come from my funds. We _are_ allies." Klavier accepts his sleeping bag from Trucy with a thanks.

"Just because you have sponsors doesn't mean no one else does," I mutter under my breath as Trucy rolls out a bag next to Ema.

"Actually, there are only so many people betting on tributes." He snaps. "The more people backing me, the fewer there are behind anyone else."

That's his strategy, huh? Must be why he's so concerned with his image, enough to lie about why he volunteered. He's... playing the Games on a whole different level.

I wonder if it was his brother's idea.

Trucy frowns at Klavier. "So you think my burn cream was from your sponsors?"

"Nein." He smiles. "I'm sure there are plenty of people yet to back a Fräulein as beautiful as yourself."

She beams again. "Okay."

I cross my arms. "Oh, but I can't have any sponsors?"

He turns to grin at me. "I'm afraid that, between me and Fräulein Magician, there just isn't any money left to bet on you."

I can see the tips of my hair spikes as they droop. "Great."

Trucy laughs. "Oh, don't take it so seriously, Polly. We're just joking around with you."

"I kind of wish you wouldn't."

Her only response is detaching the sleeping bags from each other. "Only four, huh? How should we split these up, I wonder?"

"Seems like we could afford five, but..." I rest my hand in the bend of my elbow and poke my forehead. "I guess Ema can't really feel the difference at the moment."

Arms folded, Trucy looks over at the 7 girl. "I guess not..."

She starts to unroll one of the sleeping bags before Klavier suddenly frowns. "Well, she'll be able to tell the difference when she wakes up."

"Oh!" Trucy gasps. "You're right. She can have mine."

"Nein, I couldn't possibly allow that." He gives Trucy a smile. "Take mine."

"Are you sure? I know you could at least use a pillow with your head hurting so much."

He pulls his bangs forward and lets them fall back. "I'll be fine. Believe me, I'd have more trouble sleeping knowing that a Fräulein is lying on the cold, hard rocks when I could have prevented it."

"Actually..." I pull a rolled-out bag toward me and check out the zipper. "It wasn't that cold last night. We probably don't need it over us, so we can unzip all of them and cover the whole cave floor."

"Ah!" Klavier watches me butterfly the first sleeping bag. "You're right."

Heck yeah, I am. Maybe you would have thought of it eventually, if you weren't so busy trying to impress all of the girls.

"On a different note—" he turns to Jinxie, who's standing in the middle of the cave with her bedroll clutched to her chest—"how are you doing? Think you'll manage some rest tonight?"

She takes a small step back and stands there. He sighs and starts to unroll his sleeping bag.

"Hmm... District 8. I'm sure I know something from District 8..."

Blinking, Trucy looks at him. "What do you mean, 'something'?"

"A song, of course."

I slouch. "She's panicked about people getting killed in the Hunger Games, and you serenading her is supposed to fix that?"

He chuckles, rolling his eyes. "Love song or otherwise, music has a magic power. Often it's our one chance for escape."

It's a little lyrical, but I guess he has a point.

He eventually starts a song Jinxie seems to recognize as we arrange our sleeping bags in the little cave space we have. Ema's tucked away in the back, but the rest of us are still outside when the song ends.

Trucy glances at the cushioning layer before walking over to Jinxie. "Do you want a spot in the middle?"

Blinking, Jinxie looks over at the floor of the cave.

"There's a space for you right here, okay?" Trucy takes her elbow and, since Jinxie doesn't flinch, pulls her into the cave. The 8 doesn't reply, but she at least manages to sit on a good spot. Maybe the music helped a little after all. Still not much, but better than nothing.

The blare of the anthem makes me start, and I hurry to get the clipboard out. Locating the correct end of the pen from the gleam of the projection, I turn to face the Capitol seal. It's a lot cloudier tonight, but there are still a few stars behind the image.

My grip on the ten tightens.

I—I don't know if I can handle this again—!

Swallowing, I force myself to take a deep breath. I may have missed a cannon or two in the chaos today, but none of the faces are going to be Clay's. I'm not reliving any of it tonight. I'm fine.

First up is Sasha, which is no surprise to us.

"Who even killed her?" I look over my shoulder at the others.

Trucy frowns, gripping her fingers. "Well, I didn't do it... Klavier?"

He crosses his legs. "Wasn't me. I snared her sword once, but I never actually landed a hit on her."

Neither of them seems to be lying... But who else could have gotten her? Her own teammates? Weren't they at least mostly busy with us?

A cannon fires before her face fades from the sky. Shoulder stiffening, I glance to see if something happened near here, but there are no other tributes or hovercrafts visible.

I turn back to the display to see Ema's face.

A frozen moment passes before all of us rush into the cave. Jinxie presses herself to the wall as Klavier hurtles past her to pull Ema's shoulders up and prop her against the wall. I turn the flashlight on as Trucy checks the pulse at Ema's neck. I don't see any blood on the sleeping bags, but they are kind of dark. The air only smells of sweat and dirt, though.

"I-I swear there's still something there!" Trucy leans over to check Ema's wrist.

I tug her Luminol glasses off and hold one of the lenses close to her mouth.

—There! There's a little bit of fogging!

"She's still breathing!" I jam the glasses back in place. Klavier straightens them as I pull Ema's jacket and part of her shirt up to check the wound. It really doesn't look any different.

But she's not dead yet! We must be able to do something! What, though? Is there an infection to clean out? Is there another wound somewhere else we need to patch up?

"How's her pulse?" I bark as I check her forehead. Cool, a little clammy. Definitely doesn't feel like fever. So, no infection? Then what—

"I'm not sure." Trucy swallows, gripping Ema's wrist harder. "I-if it's still there, it's really weak..." She tries Ema's neck again.

"Get up, both of you."

Drawing back, I turn my head toward Klavier and frown. "What?"

"Get up. Leave her alone."

"Wh-what?!" Trucy gives him a look of disbelief. "But she's still alive! We can still..."

"Still do what?" He scowls. "She's clearly terminal if her cannon has fired. We've been given no medication, so her only chance, if she even has one, would be some kind of major operation. I don't suppose either of you is a licensed surgeon?"

At the age of 16? "Of course not. But—!"

"But what? The Gamemakers have already declared her dead." His look darkens further. "And it looks like our second opinion is about to concur."

I turn to Trucy, whose shoulders are stiff.

"Maybe I just..." She moves her fingers a little higher up on Ema's neck, but it's clear she doesn't feel any difference.

"You take her legs. Trucy, you handle that side." He grips Ema's right shoulder and slips a hand under her back.

"But..." Trucy clasps her hands together, pulling them to her chest.

"Would you rather leave her here to rot?" he snaps.

She flinches back and, after a moment, shakily mirrors his movements. I grip Ema's legs just above the ankle, and we carefully carry her out. Once we're all out of the cave, we lower her onto the rocks. I can see Klavier and Trucy pull back out of the corner of my eye, but I haven't let go yet.

We brought her body here for the hovercraft to pick up. She's dead. She's actually dead.

My gaze slides up to her face, only dimly lit by the flashlight I left in the cave. Pale, worn, motionless—a shadow of the face that was smiling down at us a minute ago.

How... H-how did this...

I realize I'm trembling, but there's nothing I can do about it.

Seeing her face before knowing she was dead was a shock, but it's not entirely unexpected. She's been in bad condition since we first ran into her here. I should... I should be be halfway prepared for this. Anyone could have seen it coming from a mile away.

But... But...! What on earth made it okay for her to die?! What did she do to deserve this—what did any of us do? Sure, going out of her way for the forensics kit wasn't the most rational move, but that doesn't mean she has to die for it!

And what did Clay do? What did anyone in this arena do to deserve this?! Be a district kid? And that means we can die whenever the Capitol wants us to? No matter who we actually are, no matter what kinds of people we are, no matter what dreams we have... All of that is nothing?

"Apollo...?"

I recognize the hand gripping my arm as Trucy's.

"The... hovercraft is waiting."

I don't know why I'm gripping Ema's ankles so hard, but it takes me a minute to let go. Even then, Trucy has to give me a tug to get me to step back.

The hovercraft claw comes down with a faint creak and closes around Ema. Her hair drifts down as it ascends and takes her away.

Choking, I hunch over, gripping my elbows.

Ema...


	27. Coming and Going

"What? No fair!" I slam my fists down on the table. The thump echoes to the edges of the blank, white room. "I'm a way bigger fan of him than you are!"

Ema grins, swinging her legs a little without kicking the back of the green couch she's perched on. "Honestly, I'd rather hang out with Edgeworth, but hey. I'll take what I can get." She hops off the couch back and lands on her feet. "Well, wouldn't want to keep Mr. Wright waiting."

"You know what, I'll come with you." I hurry after her as she approaches the door.

Snorting, she shoots a look over her shoulder at me. "Hey, it's my turn! You can wait."

I run after her, anyway, but it only takes a few turns of the hallway before she's out of sight. I wander for a while before settling in another room, a wooden-floored one with a few chairs and a whiteboard.

It's some time before Ema joins me and starts drawing a bunch of three-by-three grids on the board. She then proceeds to beat me at tic-tac-toe on every last one of them.

I collapse back onto the floor, arms splayed out. "Why do you have to be so smart?"

She just laughs.

* * *

><p>Ema feels so close, <em>so close<em>, when I wake up that I have to bury my face in the sleeping bag to keep myself from crying too hard. But eventually the haze wears off, the dream seems silly and distant, and I shut my eyes again. I need rest. I'm so tired...

The next time I wake up, weak daylight is bleeding into the cave. Probably not far past dawn. Maybe I could sleep in a little more... But maybe not. It looks like all of the girls—I mean, both of them—are up, so we'll probably head out soon. We need to find a stream a little farther from the Careers. Maybe we'll cross back to the other mountain. I'm at a bad angle now, but I'm sure there are other streams coming down that way. It's pointless to have the other mountain in the arena if no one can stay on it. Especially with that clearly man-made tunnel.

With an exhale, I push myself into a sitting position and wince. So sore, even with all the nice padding. But what can I expect after falling down on top of a bunch of rocks? I'll just have to deal with it. Just like everything else...

The sky is bright enough to hide the stars, but Clay's and Ema's faces flicker across my vision, anyway. How are we supposed to deal with this? With all of this, all of these people dying? Maybe not all of the deaths hurt in exactly the same way, but... How am I supposed to handle that much strain? Since we have to stay hidden, I can't even—

Actually... these sleeping bags are pretty thick. I bet a rolled-up one would muffle me well enough.

Jinxie, Trucy, and I exchange some blank "good morning"s as I get the freest bag folded, zipped, and bundled up.

"I'm Apollo Justice and I'm fine!"

It's been too long with too much stress. I really need to let those vocal chords have it.

"I'm Apollo Justice and I'm fine!"

I probably keep it up for twenty minutes, but, when I set the bedroll down, Klavier's still asleep. I guess I was muffled pretty well. That's a relief. I got too caught up in it to check.

"Do you think we should wake him up?" Trucy is rolling up another sleeping bag, but parts of either one remaining are pinned under our dozing tribute.

I clear my throat a little. "I don't see why not. We need to get moving."

"Okay. Klavier?" Trucy kneels down and tries his name again before prodding his shoulder. He finally shifts, and she steps back. "It's time to wake up. We're heading out soon, I think." Frowning, she turns to me. "I mean, I don't want to stay here..."

I shake my head. "Me neither. There's no good reason to."

In broad daylight, with half of the cushy ground cover gone, it's a little harder to think of this as the place we struggled to keep Ema alive. But it is. I wouldn't be happy here even if we had a safe source of water.

Klavier starts to push himself up before his breath catches and his hands fly to the sides of his head. Eyes screwed shut, he hunches over, a moan escaping despite what is clearly his best effort.

"Oh, no." Trucy looks down, loosely gripping her collar. "His head... How badly was he hurt?" She looks at me sharply. "We must have something to help, right?"

"Didn't Athena—?" I scan the cave until I find Klavier's supply pouches. The pill bottle rests in the larger one.

Trucy unclips his water bottle from the carabiner and takes the lid off. I scrutinize the bottle for dosage and shake out two tablets onto my palm.

By now, Klavier has managed to pull one of his hands off his head and open his eyes a bit, although he's shaking. I give him the pills, and he's in too much of a hurry to worry about their taste before he can get a swig of water. He puts the bottle down with a thunk and grips the right side of his head again.

A minute passes before he lowers his hands. Taking a few deep breaths, he slides his sunglasses on and gets to his feet. "Thanks. You... said we were getting out of here?"

"Yeah." I slide a sleeping bag toward me and start to pack it up. "Are you feeling well enough?"

"If we have to run, we have to run." He frowns and reassembles his chain belt. "Let's move along before the Careers can catch up to us." He shuffles around to roll up the last bag.

Each of us takes a bedroll and starts to descend. Hopefully we can cover a good amount of ground in the morning before we get too worn out. We need to at least get past the valley. It's looking a bit overcast, too.

We're still a good drop from the bottom when I turn to check on the others and don't see Jinxie.

"T-Trucy! Where did...?!"

Startled, she lowers herself onto a flatter ledge and turns around. "Jinxie?!"

I check below, but I'm sure Jinxie would have screamed if she had fallen that much. Unless she was sleepwalking and didn't even notice...!

"Oh!" Trucy waves a hand to get my attention and points upward. "Jinxie!" she calls.

The girl clambering up doesn't even glance back. Maybe she really is asleep? She didn't seem that coordinated yesterday, though. Which probably means I need to keep her from falling.

Inhaling, I locate a few handholds and start up after her. "Hey! Can you hear us?"

She climbs a little faster. Please tell me she's not still scared of me... She's not shaking, though, as far as I can tell. I guess she really is sleep-climbing. It's a good thing she was at the back of the cave last night. We'll have to keep an eye on her during night watches, too, or she could end up somewhere dangerous. Or she could just—

Fall.

With a yelp, she tumbles down a few feet, too high up for me to catch her. It doesn't look like she lands on her shoulder, but she lets out a scream nonetheless.

She didn't break anything, did she?

Just as I'm about to catch up, she's back on her feet and climbing again.

She has to be conscious by now. What on earth is she doing?

"Jinxie!" I dodge a few pebbles that skitter down from her foot. "Hang on for a minute! If you're hurt, we need to fix it before you move any more!"

She makes it past where she fell from before disappearing over a rocky shelf.

Shoot!

I take a second to rub some of the soreness from my arms before hurrying after her again. I can hear her panting, at least. I don't think she's getting too far away.

When I finally pull myself panting over the ledge, Jinxie is sitting there, a little tearful, both hands gripping stalks of some flowering plant stemming from a muddy patch. She doesn't seem wounded, although her shoulder's a little off. I'm not sure if that's anything new or not, though.

"Jinxie?"

She jumps and turns around enough to see me. "O-oh! I'm sorry..."

Hey, she said something! "No, it's fine. Are you hurt or anything?"

"Um... I think there's something wrong w-with my shoulder again."

I frown. Did it re-dislocate? "Can I see?"

"O-okay." She pivots a bit to give me a better look, but she maintains her grip on the flower stem.

"What kind of flower is that?" I start as I scan over her shoulder. There's definitely a bulge; I think it did look like that the first night we found her. Since she's definitely in pain, I can only come to the conclusion her shoulder has popped out of its socket again.

"A Nine-Tails Flower. These were my mother's favorite." She twirls a stem between her fingers as I scoot over in front of her.

"They're not just arena plants, huh?" I let out a breath. "I'm going to try to fix your shoulder again. Is that okay?"

She winces but nods. I may not have done this in a while, but you don't grow up in a building chock-full of boys without having to clean up after a few fights.

It only takes a little maneuvering to get her shoulder back in condition. She cries out but manages to keep her eyes open this time.

"Everything feel all right?" I pull back and give her a look-over. She looks okay, and there aren't any more bruises—on her shoulder, at least.

She nods.

"Good. You'll be just fine." I cast a look down the mountainside. I think the others have come up a little bit, but they're definitely waiting on us. It's still a pretty long climb down. Is Jinxie going to be able to make it? Even with everything back in place, she shouldn't move her arm much, and it's pretty clear that she has been. Are we going to have to carry her? I honestly don't know if I'm up to that right now...

Especially when the last person I helped carry—

No. N-not right now.

"I'm Apollo Justice and I'm fine." Swallowing, I pull my jacket out from my bedroll. "Let's at least try to make you a sling."

Okay, I need a squarish area for her arm, and then... One sleeve behind her neck and the other going around the front.

She only shudders a little bit as I knot it up. She's doing so well all of a sudden. Is it... the flowers? She sure went out of her way to get them.

"We'll probably run into some more, but go ahead and pick a few if you want." I push myself to my feet, trying not to wobble. My knee's doing all right with that brace, but it's still beaten up, and a lot of the rest of me is, too.

Jinxie quickly takes a few flowers, clutching them in her right hand.

"Come on, let's go."

It's pretty slow progress staying next to her—she keeps crying out against demons kicking her shins to make her trip, although I fail to see any of them—but we make it to the others and, after a few words, continue our descent.

* * *

><p>The rain pounding outside of the tunnel doesn't muddle Trucy's voice much. "What are they for, anyway?"<p>

Legs crossed, Jinxie brushes her fingers against the charms on her forehead. "They keep evil things from taking control of me."

"Huh." I look out at the screen of water—it's thick, but there's still some sunlight seeping between the clouds. "Everyone in the Hunger Games could probably use a few of those."

I guess she's literally concerned about demons, but... Evil does tend to creep into people here.

"Oh!" Jinxie leans toward me. "You have paper and ink, don't you?"

Drawing back, I say, "Er, yeah." Is she really going to make her own?

Well, with this paper, she won't be able to stick anything to my forehead, so it shouldn't hurt me... right?

I'm still not feeling great about it when I take out the clipboard and offer it to her. She snaps it up, orients herself to the pen, and starts scribbling on the second page.

"Hmm, so you can ward off evil..." Trucy smiles at her. "What else have you got? Anything for endurance? Climbing? Headaches?"

Jinxie finishes whatever symbol she's working on before she looks up. "Of course! If a demon causes it, a warding charm can fix it!"

"How _is_ your headache, by the way?" Trucy turns her head toward Klavier and the entrance.

Holding out a water bottle in each hand, he has to crane his neck to meet her gaze. "It comes in and out. The pills help, though they're none too fast-acting."

Really? You set out quickly enough this morning. Were you still in the same amount of pain?

His voice is kind of flat even now. Is his injury affecting him that much? It didn't seem that bad until today...

The sound of paper ripping brings my attention back to Jinxie, who carefully tears the paper into smaller rectangles. Only two of the symbols match the ones crossing her forehead.

"Trucy, Klavier. Th-these are for evil-warding."

I pause. "None for me?"

Blinking, she furrows her brow. "But a demon can't possess another demon! O-or can they?!" She clutches the clipboard to her chest and sling. "Perhaps I was wrong, but as a demon, you'd know!"

I slouch. "No. I can't be possessed by any demons."

"O-okay." She goes on her merry way with the other charms.

* * *

><p>The next day, the rain still hasn't let up. I guess we're getting a little time to recover. Phineas was the only face in the sky last night, Trucy told me. So, laments aside, there must have been at least a little action to keep the audience at bay.<p>

Thankfully, this tunnel is as wide and deep as the first one, and Klavier has enough sponsors to keep us well-fed. He wasn't lying about having hair gel, either. So we're all taken care of. I can't help but be on edge, but the time to rest is nice. My shoulder's still not great, and my knee aches off and on, but I don't feel as ground up anymore.

It's probably noon when we hear the screech.

Not human. Somehow that isn't much of a relief.

We all kick away our lounge of sleeping bags and get to our feet before a shadow crosses the entrance.

My heart stops when Simon Blackquill blocks off the route outside.

"What a quaint little encampment." He smirks, hooking his hand around his chin. "You appear to have plenty of room—would you care to let in two more weary travelers?"

He steps to the side so Athena can fit in the space next to him.

"Hey, guys." She smiles. "How's it going?"


	28. Forced Decision

Author's Note: Happy one-year anniversary for the English release of _Dual Destinies_! How could I not update today?

* * *

><p>It's clear that none of us know how to respond. Simon takes it as an invitation to step in, which opens the door for Athena to charge past him.<p>

"Well, it's good to see all of you doing okay. And you found Jinxie, too!" She clasps her hands together next to her head. "How are you, Jinxie?"

Jinxie lowers the clipboard, her gaze flicking back and forth. "Um, I'm all right, thanks."

"Great." Athena rests her hands on her hips. "Apollo?"

"Me? I'm fine." I glance at Simon before giving Athena a nod. "Still a little battered, but my shoulder's doing okay. How's your head? You hurt it, right?"

She blinks. "Oh, I did, didn't I? It doesn't hurt much now, thanks." Pausing, she taps her earring a few times. "Are you... not happy to see us?"

Huh? "No, it's great to have you with us. And, uh—" I rub at my scalp, my shoulders hunched—"I guess it's nice to see Simon not slashing at me."

"That image could be changed at a moment's notice." Simon smirks. "As your ally, however, I shan't do that without clear cause."

I draw back a bit. What an ally. "Clear cause being?"

"Pointless jabbering, for one."

I would ask what he considers pointless, but I feel like that question might qualify. I don't think asking for other causes would be a great idea, either.

So, basically, he could still draw his sword whenever he wants; he's just going to be a lot closer to us all of the time. What a great deal...

But what am I going to say? Leave, and take Athena with you? Leave, and let Athena stay with us? I don't like the former, and the latter isn't going to happen. There would probably be repercussions just for asking, considering we're talking about Simon...

But if he honestly wants to be an ally, I know he's capable of defending us. I'm not too hopeful about his teamwork skills, but...

"What happened to you, then?" Athena frowns at me. "You sound pretty sad for someone who's grateful for new teammates and his recovery."

"D-do I?" I thought I had gotten most of it out, but I guess she can still tell with that sensitive hearing. She can even pick out what I'm barely feeling consciously, huh...? No keeping secrets around her. Sheesh, between her and Trucy, I can't keep anything to myself.

But really, that's not a bad thing. We need honesty in this alliance if we're going to cooperate fully.

"You must not have been able to tell from the little time you had with us the other day, but we were already allied with Jinxie... and Ema."

She glances at the rest of the group before looking down and gripping the back of her arm. "Oh. I'm sorry."

"It's no fault of yours, Fräulein." Klavier, leaning back against the cave wall again, takes a moment to smile at her. "But she is no longer with us, and there is nothing we can do for her now. Her killer is dead, and her beloved forensics kit is safe in our hands. All that's is left is to move on."

"Her killer?" I think of the knife in my backpack, but we never sat down and tried to identify who stabbed Ema.

"Yes, Fräulein Buckler from 4."

But we still don't know who killed her, huh?

...Are you sure it wasn't you, Klavier...?

Athena shuts her eyes, close to tears all of a sudden. "Ema was your district partner, wasn't she? This must be harder on you than anyone."

You would think so, but he's been handling it pretty well. He's been a little irritable, maybe, but I'm positive I've cried more than he has. If he has at all.

But it _is_ Athena who thinks otherwise. Maybe...

"Well, she hardly cared for me." Klavier pulls his bangs back. "She wasn't the best company unconscious, either. I'm not the one who misses her most. Circumstances aside—" he leans toward Athena, smiling—"welcome to our alliance. Your presence alone is enough to brighten it." He nods at Simon. "Herr Blackquill, it's good to have you as well. My brother _did_ recommend I look into the Careers, though I didn't expect the alliance would be lost and found and turned around like this."

"Yeah." Trucy grips the brim of her hat. "I welcome you, too, of course! But..." She folds her arms loosely. "Why come to us all of a sudden? Did something happen with the other Careers?"

Athena sighs, while Simon's eyes flash.

"A sword is dulled rather than sharpened when it contacts an improper whetstone. When it was made clear that that alliance did not suit my purposes, I left."

Pulling her hands together, Trucy frowns. "Even with your sister there?"

He turns around to face the rainy entrance.

Wringing out her ponytail, Athena watches him for a moment before slinging a backpack off her shoulders. "Anyway, we're here now. Let's make the most of it, okay, everyone?"

"Right." I step over to help her unload. She has a water bottle and a bedroll clipped to the bottom of a backpack full of outside pockets. There's no reason to unpack it further, but I assume there's some medicine, food, and maybe some fire-starting supplies inside. I wonder how much they would have been able to grab when they fled the Career alliance. It couldn't have been easy, unless they went at night. Even then, they'd have to be quiet.

Simon sets down his substantially heavier-looking bag and eyes Jinxie with a smirk. "I don't believe the two of us have had the pleasure of meeting yet."

Shivering, she peeks from over the top of the clipboard. "M-my name is Jinxie Tenma. I'm from District 8." She studies him for a moment before leaning forward. "Th-the bags under your eyes are even worse than mine. You must have trouble sleeping." She immediately starts to write on another slip of paper and offers it to him. "Here. This charm will keep Azukiarai away."

Az-what?

Simon manages to repeat it exactly. "The demon that washes azuki beans?"

"Azukiarai often keeps people up at night with the noise he makes washing beans. But if you stick this charm on your forehead, you won't hear him anymore."

He pauses and takes it. "I-is that so? Well, thank you."

Athena looks at me sideways. "Looks like he got more than he bargained for."

Those two do make an... interesting pair, don't they?

Simon pockets the warding charm before turning toward the rain again. He puts his hands to his mouth and whistles.

Is he... calling Fulbright...?

But a screech follows shortly afterward, and I've put two and two together before the hawk glides into the cave and lands on his shoulder. Pleased, he scratches under the bird's jaw. "Finished your lunch?"

Trucy blinks, a hand over her mouth. "It's been three and a half days, and he's already trained an arena bird?"

I slouch. "That's insane..." He's just that terrifying to all species, I guess...

But when I glance back at him, I realize the feather in his mouth seems to match the hawk's exactly. But he was chewing on that before we ever made it to the arena, wasn't he?

"No, Taka and I go much farther back than that." Simon lowers his hand to grip his chin. "He was known to visit me even in the clink. I suppose we aren't far from my home district, since he tracked me down within a day of the Games."

Wait, so that bird managed to evade the Gamemakers' control and get into the arena? And he managed to follow Simon clear from District 2? How on earth...?!

I mean, I concede that we could be nearby. District 2 has mountains, right? But... There has to be a limit to how close the arena can be to the district borders. And there has to be limit to how far a hawk can keep track of something.

But the evidence speaks for itself. If that's one of Taka's feathers, and Simon had it as far back as the reaping, they must have had contact before. And it does make a whole lot more sense than Simon managing to capture and train a bird of prey in a matter of days.

It's almost a relief that Mr. Intimidating is fond of a pet. But considering that pet is a predator with large, sharp talons, it's... not that calming after all.

While I've been busy pondering the mysteries of Taka, Athena has apparently started up some sort of German Language Club with Klavier. Jinxie is going over some different charms with Simon, who's endlessly amused by some of the horrific things different demons are supposed to do. Trucy seems more interested in Athena's and Klavier's conversation, but it's clear she can't decipher a word of it.

...I guess it's not the worst alliance I could be in.

* * *

><p>The rain is lessening by evening, but we still get a hefty tray of food donated for supper. Still not safe to go out, I guess. After all, where it's not rocky, it's muddy.<p>

I'm trying to count the very thin tomato slices so we can divide them six ways when Klavier gets Simon's attention.

"What about the Man in White? He didn't see fit to stay on your side?"

Simon looks down, eyes dark. "He won't be joining us anytime soon. In fact, it is we who would be joining him—though I suppose none of us really wishes to."

Um... What? Yeah, he's kind of obnoxious, but I wouldn't mind running into him again. Maybe give him a more proper thank you for saving our hides the other day. And he seems strong enough; he'd make a good ally.

Pulling one ration of tomato slices to the side, I check on the girl from 3. It'll be a lot easier to get a straight answer out of her.

"Athena?" She's looking down. Maybe there was some trouble between them after all. I can't imagine Fulbright getting that upset over anything but injustice. What could either of them have done to give him that impression?

"He's not with the Careers, either," she murmurs. "He's gone."

"Gone?" I pause. "Wait, you don't mean...?"

She nods. "When Simon said it wasn't safe for us to stay, he meant it."

I swallow. There was a cannon last night near the end of my watch. It must have been for him.

Fulbright is really dead? So soon? This doesn't seem right. He wasn't exactly a friend of mine, but... There's no way he deserved that.

My finger rubs against the platter hard as I push the next group of tomato slices to the side. "Who would do that?"

She rubs her elbow. "They were kind of ganging up on him... and I couldn't get to the actual fight. I guess Aura started it, so..."

...She could very well have finished it.

Staring down at the plate, I clench my fists.

Aura...!


	29. Memory

"How far back does this go?" Athena takes a few steps into the shadows of the tunnel, but I'm guessing she can't see any farther than me.

"I don't know." I press a finger against my forehead. "I've only gone in a little ways."

"Hmm." She puts her hands on her hips. "Maybe we should check it out. You never know what could be in there."

"Isn't that why we shouldn't go in?" I slouch. "Even if anything worthwhile is in there, we can be sure it's trapped."

"You're right." Grinning, she punches her palm. "Bet I can hear any traps before you can see them!"

"I—What? No, wait!" I grab the end of her ponytail. Thankfully she wasn't running off at top speed, so she can't get onto me for dealing too much damage.

"Ack!" She stumbles back but manages not to knock me back.

"At least give us a little time to prepare!"

Reclaiming her ponytail, she wrinkles her nose at me before glancing at the others closer to the entrance. "Fine. But the challenge still stands!"

What, over trap-spotting? I think it's more important to catch all of them than to see who can catch more. But if a competition's what it takes to motivate you, sure. I'd win, anyway. What kind of obvious traps could you hear before you could see, anyway?

"Polly!" Trucy is pouting with her fists to her hips when I look back at her. "You don't tug on a girl's ponytail! Er—" she folds her arms loosely, squinting at the ceiling—"or a guy's, I guess."

I glance at Simon, but he's already scowling at me, so I turn away quickly.

"Anyway. It's not nice," Trucy says. "Now, I know boys do that sometimes to girls they like—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" I put my hands up. "I—"

"Oh!" Athena grins. "Is _that_ how it is, Apollo?"

"No! It's nothing like that! I was just trying to keep you from running off and springing some trap!"

Athena snivels loudly, clenching her fists. "Oh... So you could never see me as someone you could be attracted to, is that it?"

What?! I never said anything like that!

Klavier swoops in, leaning in close to Athena. "Herr Forehead must be even more ignorant than I thought if he fails to recognize your beauty."

She grins at him instantly. "Aw, thanks."

...I don't even know what's happening anymore. Me being insulted. Nothing new.

With a sigh, Athena glides her hands through her ponytail. "In all honesty, this might be a problem, though. Apparently someone managed to catch me at the bloodbath by snagging it." She looks to Simon, who gives her a half-nod.

"Apparently?" I furrow my brow. "Wouldn't you remember something like that?"

Frowning, she puts her hands on her hips. "Yeah, if I remembered anything from the first few minutes of the Games. I don't know if it was just that traumatic or if my head got hit too hard, but I have no recollection of anything before the cannons started firing."

Huh.

"Well, if it's that dangerous..." Trucy bobs on the balls of her feet. "I think you would look good with short hair."

"You think?" Athena runs her fingers through her ponytail one more time before getting out her knife and spinning it in her hand. "I mean, it would be safer..."

Holding her breath, she tightens her grip on the knife and gathers the top of her ponytail into her other hand. The knife hovers above her hair for a minute before she casts the blade to the ground with a clatter.

"I can't do it!" Sniffling, she lets go of the ponytail.

Geez...

Recovering from my cringing back, I lean over and pick up the knife. "Well, if you can't do it yourself, I can always—"

"Don't you _dare_!" she snarls, looking ready to fist me.

I jump back again. "Okay! Okay! I'm not touching your ponytail! H-here." I turn the knife around to offer her the handle, and she snatches it back gladly.

Wait, that reminds me. None of my smaller alliance saw what happened to Clay, but maybe...!

No, Athena can't remember anything from the bloodbath, so it's useless asking her. I can check with Simon, though.

Although, Simon _is_ a Career. Could it have been him? I can't imagine him using anything but a sword, but if there weren't any available at the time...

Well, there's no way to know if I don't ask him myself. Uh, maybe not that directly. I'd rather not lose any extremities in my pursuit of the truth.

Trucy's blocking my path, pulling a few strands of Athena's hair up and letting them fall. "If you don't want to cut it, I can braid it around your head. That would shorten it up without being too permanent."

Athena hops, clasping her hands together. "Ooh, that sounds great! Let's do it!" She pulls her ponytail holder out and glances at Jinxie. "We could do a whole braiding chain, too! Jinxie, want me to braid your hair?"

"Oh, um..." Jinxie tugs her sling closer to her wrist. "Sure?"

"Come on, let's make a line." Trucy brushes her fingers through Athena's hair a few times before removing her own hat. "And Polly, you can come braid mine."

"Hold it!" Arms crossed, I give her an incredulous look. "Do I look like the kind of guy that knows how to braid hair?"

"I don't know." She taps her lower lip. "It'd be kind of hard to tell that about a person just by looking. Unless their hair was braided already."

"That was rhetorical." I sigh. "Is your hair even long enough to braid?"

"Sure! Just start at the top."

She and the other girls sit down in near unison, and I hold out up here until Trucy pouts at me. Grumbling, I sit behind her and try to figure out how to do this by watching the others in front of me.

First it was the dress and makeup for the chariot ride, and now I'm in a line of girls braiding each other's hair... How about I switch out my backpack for a nice purse while I'm at it?

Anyway, I guess I'll be talking to Simon later. If he'll even look at me after this.

* * *

><p>The death toll has already started by the time we're all happy with our hair. Since Jinxie is now the guardian of the clipboard, she's going to keep track of the remaining tributes now. That's fine with me. I probably shouldn't do it when I can't even bring myself to look at the projection.<p>

I'll have to eventually. But... every time I've looked, another one of my friends has been up there, and I know a tribute who saved my life and several others' is going to be there tonight. I... I'll watch it sometime, I promise. Just not yet.

Judging by Jinxie's pen strokes, Fulbright was the only one who died today.

_Only_. Only one innocent tribute dead in the last twenty-four hours. As if that's a good thing. Technically, it puts the rest of us closer to success, but if that's what I wanted, I'd feel a lot better with, say, Aura's face up there.

The anthem comes to a close, but I think I'll give us a minute before I start questioning Simon. It's hard to handle all of this, and my mission technically isn't that urgent.

So I just stare at a safe spot of the sky for a while. Most of the clouds are gone now, so I can see a few stars. The same tonight as they have been the rest of the Games. People spending whole lifetimes trying to get to them, and the stars just stand there and watch...

I turn back to the alliance, and we work out our night shifts. Once we all have our sleeping bags set out, I approach Simon.

"Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?"

"You've already asked one." He leans over a bit, a hand hovering over his sword hilt. "I hope for your sake the others are actually worth my time."

Uh... So, yes? "I'll be quick." Pulling out Clay's jacket, I take a deep breath and grip the knife blade through the fabric. "First, did you see who killed Clay Terran?"

He thinks for a moment. "The one who wore that jacket, I presume?"

I swallow. Am I ready to hear this? "Yes."

"I believe his starting plate was near my own, but my attention was focused on a different pursuit at the time. I didn't see him again until he had already begun to join the soil for which he was named."

He laughs at his little joke, and I slam my foot down.

"_That's not funny!_" I don't realize how up in his face I am until I feel the edge of Taka's feather tickling my hairline.

Simon eyes me, and I've probably just ordered myself a death sentence, but I don't care. He has no right...!

"Very well." He maintains his gaze. "Suffice it to say, I did not witness his death."

I pull back, my pulse still loud in my ears. "Okay..." After a few breaths, I present the knife. "Do you know who used this?"

"Clearly they didn't retrieve it." He scrutinizes the handle, although there's not much to identify it with except for a few thin, red stripes. "I haven't seen one like it among the Careers. It doesn't appear to be a throwing knife, so it likely wasn't provided as part of a set. Thus, I have no way to identify its user."

As far as I can tell, he isn't lying.

My shoulders droop, but I give him a nod of thanks. "That's all I wanted to know."

"What's going on?"

I pivot to see Athena stepping up to us.

"Oh, I was just asking if he knew who had used this knife." It's probably useless, but I present it to her regardless. "I guess you don't have any ideas?"

She looks over it and shakes her head. "I've never seen it, sorry."

Before I can thank her for trying, my bracelet tightens.

I... I must have been imagining that.

I wave the handle a little. "Are you sure it's not familiar?"

She frowns. "Yeah, I'm sure it isn't. Should it be?"

I rub my wrist. "No..."

"Apollo?" Her head tilts to the side a fraction. "What's wrong? Are you all right?"

"I'm fine." I shove the knife and jacket into the backpack. "I, uh, was just hoping to learn more than that, that's all." Throwing one strap over my shoulder, I stand up and give her a nod. "Good night."

"Um, good night."

I hurry to my sleeping bag without looking back.

Why would she be lying...?


	30. Sounds in the Dark

Thanks to the rain and the influx of Career supplies, we have plenty of water for now. We might as well do something to keep the Capitol from getting bored with us and sending punishment, so tunnel exploration it is.

I don't know how long the flashlight is going to hold out, but we have a torch ready and we're pretty well-rested. I'm sure I can spot anything suspicious. How we'll deal with it, well... If it's a trip wire, we'll step high. If it's something we can't figure out or get around, I guess we'll go back. Anticlimactic, but safe. I'm sure the viewers will understand.

As per our competition, Athena negotiates the two of us into the front. Trucy and Jinxie are in the middle, while Simon and Klavier stay at the back. Other tributes are more likely to attack us from the rear, at least. Any danger ahead of us should be a matter of turning back, and Athena and I can handle that as well as anyone else here.

I glance at her as I turn on the flashlight. We're... still allies and friends. I don't have any real reason to doubt her. She can't be hiding anything that suspicious if she wasn't lying about losing her memory of the bloodbath. She was good friends with Clay; she wouldn't have killed him, or be willing to cover for anyone else who could have. Maybe she subconsciously remembers the knife, but that only means I might be able to ask her about it later.

And for all I know, my bracelet isn't a one hundred percent accurate lie detector. I didn't spot any tells—granted, I was too startled to actually look for any—so I may have just been too tense myself.

In the end, I'm glad to have her at my side. I can't say she's never a handful, but she makes good enough company.

I take a few careful steps before giving the area another sweep of light. More monotonous rock. It might be getting a little smaller, but it's still not a problem for any of us. Possibly it could be for Simon if it really starts getting cramped.

Ah, yes, Simon. I guess he's a nice addition to the alliance, although I can't figure him out for the life of me. He hasn't actually maimed any of us yet, so that's a good sign. And if he's here because he thinks it would be better for Athena, he's not going to mess up the alliance too much, right?

I... I don't know. But judging from the Career battle, Athena has some sway over him. I can at least feel partially safe while she's around.

At least, safe from a certain swordsman. The rest of the arena, this tunnel included... not so much.

"Do we need to slow down?" Trucy's voice is a little too loud for my liking, but she _is_ right behind me.

"For what? We've been going pretty slowly already." I turn around, training the flashlight on the others behind me. Trucy has her back to me, and Klavier is lagging a few feet behind Simon, keeping a hand to the wall.

"Nein. Sorry, I was..." He shakes his head and smiles. "I can kick it up a notch, don't you worry."

"Okay." Trucy turns around, but I don't follow suit just yet.

"Your leg hasn't gotten infected or anything, has it?"

"No, it's actually healing quite nicely." No tells, at least. I'm sure he would know better than to lie about that when some of us have susceptible wounds.

"All right..." I turn the flashlight back to the tunnel ahead of us and walk.

After a while, we manage to dodge a trip wire, but nothing else has jumped out at us. The flashlight has given out for no clear reason, but our torch is ready in little time. We're still walking two by two, and the ceiling hasn't come down much.

A few dripping stalactites appear, but they're small and more lumpy than spiky. The most imminent threat seems to be to the integrity of my hair gel.

I briefly consider asking Jinxie for my jacket back, but we still don't have a real sling. It's no big deal, anyway.

The ground starts to roughen up, and suddenly I can actually hear our footfalls. This seems a lot more natural than before—did the Gamemakers not alter the cave any more past this point? That would mean no traps, but also not much to keep going for.

The arch of the ceiling becomes more of a jagged mess, and the area widens out before Athena stops me.

"What?" I dodge to the side to keep her from clotheslining me.

She holds up a hand, looking ahead intently. I scan the area, but nothing seems out of the ordinary.

"I hear breathing."

"Breathing?" I press a finger to my forehead. "You mean, besides ours?"

She nods. "It's faint, but it's definitely coming from somewhere else. I can't say for sure it's _breathing_, but..." She taps her earring. "It's definitely something along those lines."

Trucy folds her arms. "Maybe it's a draft or vent kind of thing?"

"Could be," Athena acknowledges.

"Or perhaps it's something much more dangerous." Simon's eyes flash. "I say we end this farce. Clearly there's nothing to be gained from it."

"Yeah, it doesn't seem like we're going to get any supplies from this place." I wave the torch around some, but it only reflects off the pale rocks so much.

"But there's a stream! And cave water is supposed to be pretty fresh, right?" Trucy runs a finger over the curtain-like column next to her. "I bet it would be really hard for the other tributes to find us if we camped here."

"Oh, that's true." Jinxie, rubbing a petal of her flower between her fingers nervously, steps to Athena's other side. "I'm... not sure about the lack of sunlight, but it does seem pretty nice."

"But there's no wood down here, and the torch is going to run out eventually." I turn the flashlight in my free hand. "Even if this would turn on, it wouldn't last indefinitely, and—" when I toy with the switch, it actually comes on. Startled, I nearly drop the fiery torch, but Athena snatches it. "A-and, uh, then we'd just be in the dark."

"Though we wouldn't have to stay indefinitely." Klavier glances at the rest of us. "In fact, we must be traveling on before long if the Games are going to keep up pace."

That's true... The Gamemakers will kick us out before too much time passes, or bring someone else in. No place is safe for long here. I guess this really wouldn't be that bad of a shelter, if I could find a good spot where nothing is dripping on my head.

"Hmm..." Athena peers ahead again. "You know what? All right. If it turns out to be safe, we can stay here. We should probably look into that breathing noise, though."

Simon glowers before stepping up. "Very well. What direction, precisely?"

Athena pauses before pointing ahead, a bit to the right. "There."

Simon jerks his head up, and Taka takes off toward the sound. The flapping of his wings trails off into silence that isn't broken until he returns. Landing on Simon's shoulder, he hunches over a bit.

...What is that supposed to mean? I don't suppose Simon is actually going to have a conversation with his pet.

But it only takes a minor shift of the light to see something in Taka's beak. Simon holds up a hand, and a clump of hair falls into his palm. He spreads it out a bit, frowning the whole time.

"Is it... human?" Klavier peers around Simon's shoulder.

"No." The 2 lets the fur fall from his hand. "Nothing pale enough to be native to this darkness, either."

Athena frowns. "But then it would have to be..."

Either something that managed to wander all the way down here, or—more likely—something the Gamemakers placed here.

"Well, I had fun spelunking!" She spins to face the exit. "Let's go—!"

She freezes for a moment, and even I can hear a faint rattling. That can't be from the stalactites.

"Come on!" When I surge forward, no one has any trouble following suit. I can't push my way to the front before the space narrows, but I at least make it to the middle with Trucy, Athena just behind me and Jinxie keeping up with her. Ahead of me, Klavier is limping, but it doesn't look like I'll be tripping over him anytime soon.

"Whatever it is, it's definitely coming!" Athena hollers. Being in the back of the pack must be killing her with how fast she can run, but as long as it doesn't actually get her killed...!

I try to push ahead harder, but I must be going full blast already. We have a pretty good head start, though, right? It depends on what's coming after us...

The flashlight cuts out.

Jinxie screams in surprise. With a yelp, I fiddle with the switch, but it's no good. We're back in the no-technology zone, I guess.

Behind me, Athena still has the torch, but the light is pretty weak, especially when we're hurtling through the tunnel like this. At this rate, the fire's going to go out. But what's worse, sprinting in the dark or letting the animals—probably mutts—catch up?

Neither sounds very good...!

I manage to get the torch from Athena and pass it to Simon, but it's definitely starting to die. I have the lighter if I have to use it, but can such a small flame stay lit like this, let alone get a bigger fire going?

"Athena! Can you tell how far back they are?" I try.

"Too far for me to pinpoint them, at least. But definitely closer than they were!"

Great, great...! They're catching up, then! How far do we have to go? What are we even going to do when we hit daylight? Just start fighting them? We'd better not fall off the side of the mountain in the process.

"Have they made it into the narrow section of the tunnel?" Simon calls.

"Yeah! We have to keep going!" Athena says. "It really sounds like they're catching up...!"

Shoot! What _are_ they? What can we do about them? Maybe if we slow down, Trucy could land some hits. "How many are there? Can you tell?"

"Give me a minute!" Athena falls silent before gritting her teeth. "E-either four or eight! I don't know how many legs they have, and I can't separate it all out in this mess."

That's too many for me regardless.

Simon has managed to keep the torch from going out, but the light hasn't gotten any stronger. We can either see ahead or behind, by the looks of it. The tunnel is curving some, though, so I can't take the light away from there. I bet the monsters aren't close enough to see, any—

Athena shrieks, and I can just see a gleam of pointed teeth behind her.

Y-you've got to be kidding! "Athena!"

"I'm okay!" She gets out her knife and flings her arm back with a loud grunt. It doesn't sound like it connects. So there's still a little bit of distance. We can't be too far from the entrance, right?

I try the flashlight, but no luck. When did it go out on the way here? We had probably been walking for... fifteen minutes?

"Aaagh!"

Simon trips but manages to stumble ahead rather than fall over. I don't ascribe any reason to it until Klavier hops.

"The trip wire!" I jump after him, but we've nearly ground to a halt because of Simon missing the trap in the poor light. I pivot to make sure Athena stops in time, but she barely bumps into me.

The ground rumbles underfoot, and I only spend a second looking for whatever we triggered before the stone starts crumbling.

Nothing's dropping from the walls or ceiling as far as I can tell, but the animals behind us are growling and yelping as the ground goes to pieces beneath them.

Of course! The trap is going to be designed for tributes heading into the tunnel, not out of it. This could be to our advantage!

But the closest monster hasn't fallen yet, leaving Jinxie to bat at it with the clipboard until she loses her grip and the paper goes sailing backwards at us. The ground is still falling, though, and it's clear the beast is scrabbling just to stay where it is.

Then Trucy and Jinxie lose their footing.

I lunge, but Trucy is too far behind me after the holdup. Athena snags her wrist, and Trucy grabs the front of Jinxie's sling. I hook my arm in Athena's elbow for support, but the ground under Jinxie is gone.

Trucy struggles to keep her grip, but it's hard enough backpedaling to keep from falling over herself. The ground is falling faster than she can keep up, and she starts going over the edge.

As Simon reaches for her arm, Athena tries to stand her ground with the pitfall widening towards her. With a growl, the 2 corrects himself to lunge for Athena.

"Back up!" Klavier stomps down on the trip wire he seems to have loosened. "We need to back up!"

"Well, give us a hand!" I scream back, tugging as hard as I can. With Simon on the case, it's not as hard to get Athena toward us, but Trucy's struggling to get up the side of the wall now. Jinxie is still in her grip, though I can't see how she's doing.

Klavier gets behind Simon and me to pull, and we make a group heave. We've moved a little, at least.

Jinxie shrieks, but when I check, she's still there.

How far down does the pitfall go? Can the animals still reach her?

"Jinxie!" Trucy struggles to reel her in, but it doesn't work so well with only one hand.

We all heave again, but it's only enough to keep up with the falling floor.

"We have to try harder! Come on, you guys, I'm starting to slip, too!"

"Rrgh!" I try to give Athena an extra pull, but it's no good on my own.

Another scream draws my eye to Jinxie—her free hand is on the knot of her sling.

Before I can say anything, she drops.

"Heave!" calls Simon regardless, and I have no choice but to go with it. This time, we pull Trucy onto solid ground.

"Jinxie!" On her knees, she hurries back to the edge, holding a hand out. "Jinxie!"

The ground hasn't stopped rumbling. None of us are safe yet.

I can still hear Jinxie somewhere below, but I block it out as I dart over and scoop up Trucy.

You got me out of harm's way when my friend was dead. I have to do the same for you.

Trucy's still screaming, but everyone else knows to run.

I'm not sure when the rumbling stops, but the cannon fires just as daylight appears ahead.


	31. The Show Must Go On

By the time we're out of the tunnel and up the mountain a bit, Trucy has calmed down. She's not smiling by any means, but I at least don't thinks she's going to run back for anything if I let her go. Of course, there's no reason to go back anymore.

We finally stop to rest, so I let her arms off my shoulder. She shakily climbs over to a bush and leans against it sideways.

"Are you hurt?" I look over her shins, but none of the scratches seem very deep.

She pauses before starting to roll up a pants leg. "I don't think so..."

Further investigation doesn't bring up anything worrysome—certainly nothing as bad as the gash on Klavier's calf. Her right ankle is in pain, but it's not broken or sprained or anything.

"Good. Athena?" I check over my shoulder, and the 3 shakes her head.

"I'm a little sore from all of the pulling, but I never slipped enough to hurt myself."

All right. So, everyone's doing okay physically. Everyone that's left...

I force myself to take a deep breath, but I can't keep it up when I'm this winded.

Jinxie is gone, then. And from the time it took for the cannon to fire, it couldn't have been the fall that killed her. G-geez... I barely got to know her, with all of the terrified shock she's been in, but... She was so well-meaning; she tried to help us out in the only way she thought she could. Those slips of paper aren't going to ward off any Careers, but what else could you expect from such a small-built tribute? It's a wonder she was even able to carry Ema as far as she did.

An image of them disappearing around the mountainside before the Career battle flashes in the back of my mind, and I swallow. Both of them are dead now. And there was nothing I could do for either of them...

Trucy's still looking down, but she's not crying. This has to be harder for her than for me. It seemed like she was a lot better friends with Jinxie.

Careful to avoid her burn, I sit down next to her and put an arm over her shoulders. She reaches back to put a hand on my wrist but doesn't look up.

"We can stay here for a while, right?" I turn to the others. Athena and Klavier are sitting on opposite sides of the same rock. "We left a few supplies behind, but they'll still be by the entrance if we wait."

"Sounds good." Athena's voice is shaky as she idly twirls the tip of her ponytail in her fingers.

Klavier just nods, a hand pressed over his temple.

"Simon?" I turn toward the standing figure, who seems to be busy assuring himself that Taka didn't take any damage.

"Hmph." He glances at me. "I hardly need to listen to your jabbering to be prudent."

I guess it's kind of obvious, but... We're all shaken up. We could overlook it if we're not careful.

With a sigh, I turn back to Trucy. She's at least gazing ahead now, but her expression hasn't changed. I wouldn't expect it to. It's a little unnerving to see such a cheerful person acting like this, but I can't expect her to recover quickly. I haven't even recovered from... any of it, honestly. Not completely.

The mountain is quiet. Some leaves rustle in the breeze, and some birds are cawing in the distance. We've stopped panting by now, so it's really pretty calm, as far as noise goes.

I still see Athena leap to her feet before I hear the soft footfalls.

"Simon! One of them—!"

She can't finish before the monster appears, bounding for him. It's a slim feline, not too big to be natural—but that maw could bite off a head.

Those teeth—that's definitely what was chasing us! Are there more coming?!

My hand flies to my sword as Simon calmly but swiftly draws his own and forces the blade across the back of the mutt's open mouth. Blood pours from the gashes from mouth to jaw, and the cat recoils. Simon redirects his katana's momentum and beheads the mutt before it can make another move.

The thing collapses in a mound of dark far, the head rolling until it bumps up against the rest of the mutt. Simon's eyes sweep the area before he relaxes his stance and flicks the blood off his sword.

Meanwhile, I've managed to draw my blade halfway.

Did I actually fight this guy? H-how am I alive?

Athena lets out a sigh of relief and sits back down. "I guess that one managed to get past the pitfall." She grips her elbows. "Hopefully the others can't. I... don't hear them, at least."

"Yeah." Swallowing, I look down at the rocks. "Supposing we don't go back to the tunnel just yet."

"Sounds like a winning plan." Klavier snaps a few times before suddenly halting and turning around to throw up.

Athena jumps—she's a few feet away from him but still the closest. "K-Klavier! Are you all right?"

Hunched over, he clears his throat a few times and takes a long draft of water. Coughing, he manages a weak "ja."

"What...?" I start, recovering. "What is it? We didn't eat anything bad, did we?" Everything's been donated except for the mutt meat and some carefully-tested blackberries, but it's been days since we had those.

Athena rests her hands on her hips, frowning. "Not unless we got poisoned food sent from our mentors. Even then, the rest of us would feel at least a little sick—we split everything up pretty evenly."

"Perhaps our renowned minstrel merely hasn't taken well to the severed head before us."

Well... The mutt head was cut off pretty cleanly, but that's still more blood and internal structure than I really needed to see.

"Nein, I wasn't even nauseous." Klavier frowns but takes another drink of water and shakes his head. "Anyway, I feel fine now." But I catch his fingers brushing against his temple as he stands. Without another word, he steps past Athena and seats himself on a fresh spot.

So his head still hurts. That's no surprise. He's been taking those pills at maximum dosage since he got them.

...Could the pain be bad enough to make him throw up? Is that something that could happen? Or... maybe he just has a concussion. It wouldn't be a shock, after a big guy like Marlon ramming his head into something hard. That's enough to kill some people.

The silence is thick for a half hour or so before Trucy gets to her feet, displacing my arm.

"Are we ready to run back in and get our supplies?" She straightens out her jacket. "I think it should be safe enough now. We might want Simon staying in front, though." She tips her hat a bit in his direction.

He nods, casting a look down toward the entrance before stepping that way.

Athena helps Klavier up as I get to my feet and keep up with Trucy. I keep myself from asking if she's doing okay. How would she answer that? Truth or lie, it would be hard on her.

She glances at me sideways, and I'm sure she knows exactly what I'm thinking. She cracks a smile. "I'm all right. Jinxie... didn't want any of us to be hurt, physically or otherwise. She wouldn't have taken off the sling otherwise."

Simon lets out a breath without looking back. "Brave little scamp."

This brings Trucy up short for a moment, but she nods, eyes shut, and hurries after him.

* * *

><p>Yawning, I wriggle out of the sleeping bag enough to reach the zipper. It's a good thing it's so insulated, since I won't be getting my jacket back. I hope it doesn't get much colder out here...<p>

Trucy was given the last watch, so she's still sitting at the edge of the little copse, her hat silhouetted by the sunrise. Her shoulders are shaking a little, I think. It's still pretty chilly.

Pushing the sleeping bag away, I sit up and shuffle over towards her. "Good morning."

She freezes and takes a second to rub her face before turning around. "Morning, Polly!"

It takes my eyes a minute to make out her face with the light behind her. She's smiling as much as her voice suggests.

I smile back and take a seat next to her. "Doing all right this morning?"

"Yup." Sitting on the ledge, she swings her feet. "You?"

"Pretty good. I slept a little better last night, at least."

"Good." She looks ahead at the rough ground by the side of the mountain. "Where are we headed today?"

Exhaling, I look out over the rocks. There are several trees on this level, so you'd think there might be some water just under us. I don't know how well rooting around the rocks would go... What we need is a sheltered area with water.

"I guess we'll keep going around, or up. I wonder how far the others have climbed." I survey the mountain above us, to my right, but no one is visible. I wouldn't expect otherwise.

I turn back to Trucy and pause. After a glance to make sure no one else is awake—where did Simon run off to?—I ask, "Have you been crying?"

She blinks her red-rimmed eyes at me. "No."

My bracelet says otherwise.

"Hey, you don't have to lie to me." I smile. "Believe me, I—of all people—have no reason to look down on you for something like that. You don't have to tell me every little thing, but... you know. Always tell me if I can do anything to help. And that means to tell me if you do need help in the first place."

"Right... But I don't need to cry in front of anybody." She grins. "That's not my job. I make people happy, and crying isn't going to do that. So don't worry too much, okay? I don't want you to."

I fold my arms. "You say that, but you _were_ crying."

"Well, nothing interesting is happening around here. I'm sure no one was watching. And there's nothing wrong with performing without an audience, but it's kind of silly." She taps her lower lip a few times. "Unless it's for practice. Everyone needs practice."

So, you're... acting, because I'm here to see it...?

My mouth hangs open for a minute before I can piece together something to say.

"...Take your jacket off for a minute."

"Huh?" She turns her body a little more to face me. "Okay."

I'm not sure if this is going to work, but it's worth a shot.

I take the coat from her and slip her hat off while I'm at it.

"Hey! That's—mrph!" She leans back a bit when I throw the jacket over her head. "What are you doing?" Her voice is muffled as she starts grabbing at the fabric.

"No, don't move it." I hold a hand out before realizing she can't see the gesture.

She settles down before exclaiming, "Oh! Are you going to make me disappear?"

"Well... More or less." I cross my arms. "We're still not doing anything exciting enough for the cameras to be on us, don't you think?"

"Hmm... Probably not."

"And now I can't even see you."

The jacket hangs a bit differently as she tilts her head to the side. "Um, okay?"

"So... your audience has vanished. Ta-da."

"Oh..." She falls silent for a minute before gripping the bottom edge of the jacket. A few more moments pass before I can hear her sniffling.

I pull her into a one-armed hug. "It's okay. No one's watching you."

At least she's letting out a little more now, but... It's not enough to shake the horrified feeling off my chest.

How much are you hiding from us, Trucy?


	32. Best Bet

Today is an upward-climbing day after all, but not necessarily for water.

_"Good afternoon, tributes. I hope you're enjoying your sixth day of the Hunger Games—and if you're not, I have an announcement that will brighten your day! At noon tomorrow, on the false summit of the eastern mountain, a grand feast will be ready! We'll set out a smorgasbord of food for you, but that's not all. There will also be a special gift for each tribute from your home district. So be sure to make it—noon tomorrow, false summit of the mountain east of the Cornucopia. See you there."_

I'm still suspicious of the whole thing, but Athena's bound and determined to see if she can use this to track down any more friends. This alliance isn't big enough, apparently.

I mean, there's nothing wrong with having this many people around. Night watches are a lot shorter, and we'd fare better in a fight. But we can't expect Klavier's donations to keep us fed if we keep expanding, and, honestly, I'm not much of a hunter. How many animals do we even have here that aren't mutts or District 2 natives? And the only edible plant I've seen so far is a blackberry bush.

It's not that I don't want to help out the trio, but apparently they've been doing all right by themselves. But I guess we could at least talk to them before we jump to any conclusions.

Of course, if we can run into them headed to the feast, we could run into the Careers, too. We may have Simon on our side now, and Athena, but that doesn't mean I want to go looking for a fight. With my shoulder hurt, I can't move my arm as much as I need to, and Trucy's back is still giving her some trouble. I don't know about Klavier—he's been having some issues with balancing, but, depending on the circumstances, that might not hurt him in a fight. The Careers may be down in numbers, but I don't know if we actually dealt them any injuries. I didn't leave a scratch on Simon, that's for sure.

"Am I the only one who intends to enjoy the festivities fully?"

Planting her next step, Trucy looks up at the 2. "What do you mean?"

Simon continues ahead. "It sounds as though we plan to meet the other tributes outside the battlefield completely. Have we no interest in the gifts offered to us?"

"We've yet to go hungry," Klavier says, "so that bit isn't much of a reward."

"Yeah, because of all your sponsors." Trucy pauses for a moment. "Have you thanked any of them yet?"

"Of course not." He grins. "I look forward to expressing my gratitude to each of them in person."

...And that is the sound of more teenage girls throwing money at their televisions.

"It's the gifts from our districts that interest me," Athena puts in.

I squeeze my eyes shut in thought for a second. "Those could be anything, though—letters, bedding, just bread—and we'd be risking an awful lot for them."

"Suppose I simply gather all of ours by myself while you hide away elsewhere. Would that not solve our quandary?"

"Hold it!" Athena frowns at Simon. "What are you talking about? You going in alone would make it more dangerous!"

"Is that so?" He grins smugly at her. "Who, then, Cykes-dono, would you say is going to attack me?"

She falters before pounding a hand down on the rocks. "Well, the Careers, of course!"

"You mean the alliance led by my own flesh and blood?" He grips his chin with a single, strong shake of his head. "Aura and I may not see eye to eye, but I assure you she wouldn't dream of having me killed when other competitors are left to battle."

"Really?" My brow furrows. "If she cares that much, why would she volunteer in the same Games as you?" She did go first, but I think they pre-arrange this stuff in Career districts.

"Silence!" He pivots enough for me to see his hand on his hilt. Before I can worry about keeping my neck intact, Taka flies at me with a screech.

"Aaaaaah!" Hopping back, I hold up an arm and try to keep my feet under me as the hawk claws the air in front of my face. I can't do much but gawk and hope one hand is enough to keep me on the mountain.

With a sharp whistle, Simon calls his bird back before anyone has the chance to help me. Trucy makes sure I don't fall back while I'm repositioning myself.

Taka lands on Simon's shoulder as the latter continues upward. "My sister had her own rubbish logic for volunteering the year I was to be forced here. All you need to know is that neither of us wishes death upon the other."

But... aren't you trying to get Athena out alive? That means Aura has to die. I... guess you could still not want her to, but shouldn't you do something about it, if that's how you feel?

But if he doesn't want Athena to die, either...

I mean, I also don't want her to die, and I don't want Trucy to die, and I don't want to die...

Agh! How could anyone even dream of putting people into this situation? It's so wrong, I can't... I can't justify making any decisions here.

"Well..." Athena straightens up. "There are still other tributes that could gang up on you!"

He turns away from her. "Those feeble-minded miscreants? They wouldn't last one night in a prison cell, let alone against my blade." Looking at her sideways, he smirks. "Or do you expect your little triad of friends to overwhelm me themselves?"

"No way! They'd never attack you!" She unclenches her fists and stares upward. "So that leaves..." She slouches, one arm akimbo. "Well, your own alliance isn't going to go after you."

"So you admit that no one in the arena would attempt to murder me at the feast."

"Well—!" She leapfrogs over a boulder. "There could still be an accident—!"

"_Silence!_" He slams his fists down on the rock ahead of him, and Athena jumps back in surprise. "Your only reasons for concern are so vapid they could well apply to any part of this battlefield, at any moment. If you have no actual objections, it's time to move ahead."

You're the one that stopped, you know...

Athena's mouth hangs open a little, but it's clear she has no response. I think she's halfway convinced, but she's still unsettled. What else is there, though?

We've started climbing again before it occurs to me. "Hold it!"

We grind to a halt again, Simon turning to glare at me.

"What about traps?"

"Huh?" Athena casts a look back at me. "I'm keeping an ear out, don't worry."

"No, I mean at the feast." I nod at Simon. "Even if you're safe from all of the tributes, the Gamemakers aren't going to be on your side."

"Oh, that's right!" Athena slaps one hand on the rock between Simon and her. "_They_ can still launch anything they want at you!"

The 2 shifts his glare to her. "To what end? There's no point in executing tributes just before another bloodbath is to begin. Or do you think my death is so trivial to them they would bring it about without giving it any thought?"

"No..." Athena gives her earring a tap.

"A man in the clink once old me that it is useless to dispose of an axe before it has been tarnished."

"An... axe?" Sweating, I glance at Klavier. Isn't that more of a District 7 kind of tool?

Simon jabs a finger at the side of his forehead a few times, smirking. "I remind you that I was held in a prison for those convicted of homicide."

So you want us to take advice from an axe murderer?!

"Never before has a feast in the Games been trapped by the Gamemakers. Nor would such a thing be satisfying to the viewers. Therefore, it would be a worthless change." He hunches, hand hovering over his sword handle as he throws his penetrating glare at me. "Are you claiming that the Gamemakers engage in worthless folly, Justice-dono?"

I jump back, mouth gaping. "I-I never said anything like that!" Don't put words in my mouth! Especially when they slight the Capitol...!

He straightens up. "So you agree after all that there will be no traps."

...Do I have a choice? "Sure. No traps. You're safe."

With a jerk of his chin toward the mountain side, he says, "Then let us proceed."

This guy's really done his studying for the Games, huh? Keeping track of all of the feasts since they've been implemented, knowing what swords usually show up... I guess any Career would have to know some of that, though.

"...Wait a second." Ducking past a tree branch, I look up at Simon. "How did they train you for the Games if you've been in prison? I can see studying past footage, but sword-fighting?"

He pauses just long enough to smirk at me. "Whoever said I'm a Career tribute? There are other reasons to take up the sword, Justice-dono. Not to mention plenty of ways to further training without possessing the blade itself."

"Wh-what?" I draw back. "But you've studied the Hunger Games footage, too!"

"Tapes are on the train and Training Center floors, and a few nights without sleep provides an astounding amount of time. Perhaps you should try it."

With that, he resumes climbing.

"Does that mean he didn't study any of them until after he volunteered?" Trucy keeps her voice low despite her panting.

"It sure sounds like it."

But why? If he knew he would be sent into the Games—however that worked—surely he would take measures farther in advance. I know it's supposed to be his death sentence somehow, but... If he doesn't hope to get out, why bother studying at all?

My gaze rests on Athena.

If Simon didn't train for the Games until recently... Until after the reapings...

Swallowing, I stare at the rocks instead and keep going up.

We have to break out the bungee cords for part of the climb, but we make it to a flatter, shrubby area to camp out for the night. No faces in the sky, and no trouble during our watches.

But all of the trouble is coming up, at the summit not too far above us.

Let's see what happens at noon.


	33. Tiptoe

The false summit is ringed by trees. It's easy enough to see through to the flat, gravelly area, but our chances of peeking past the far edge of trees is slim. If we're going to find anyone, it'll either be on the way down or in the middle of the battlefield.

Or right here, before the feast even starts. It has to be about noon, but there's no table or sign of anything else being set up. A few leaves and stunted grass fronds wave in the wind, but nothing else appears to be moving. I check to the right and left, but I can't see anyone beyond our alliance.

We're not the only ones here, are we? I could understand Juniper not coming, but when she's probably allied with Robin and Hugh, I'm pretty sure she'd get dragged into it. And there's no way the Careers would let a chance like this slip, especially when their numbers have gone down.

On my left, Athena freezes, and I hurry to look back at the summit. No one has stepped out onto it, but I can just make out a seam in the ground, making a wide circle in the middle of the rocky surface. The center lowers with a rattling noise until it's out of sight, a dark wall of more stone all I can see until the floor rises again. Now it holds a table, wide and oval-shaped. Plates of everything from a whole turkey surrounded by small potatoes to a pile of strawberries no one could eat in one setting dot the edges, while the center is filled with an assortment of bags and boxes. There are probably numbers on all of them, although I can only make out a few from this angle. They have to be our districts. And there are two different bags marked 2, so they must be individual.

Past Athena, Simon starts to pull himself over the edge.

Then the gravel to my far right spews into the air, a jacketless tribute springing up from the ground and sprinting for the large cardboard box marked 9. I can't even make out her face before she's under the thing and shooting past a gap in the trees that, incidentally, was straight across her path.

Is she going to run down the mountain with that box over her head and torso...? I feel like she would trip. But she has to be smarter than that if she came up with such a clever plan to hide.

Branches snap from somewhere else, and a shout follows almost immediately.

"No, wait!" It's a male voice, though I can't place it—

And then the 9 girl yelps as an out-of-sight explosion rattles the table. The cloud of smoke off to my left is faint, but I hear rocks rolling, anyway. A few shouts later, and two cannons have sounded.

Who else was there? Someone tried to stop them—whoever made or spotted that trap, I guess. If the one who shouted made it, it would have to be Ted from 1. Was he trying to stop another Career, then?

Was it Aura?

I don't pick up on the implications until Simon has already stepped up onto the gravel.

Aura was the whole reason he didn't consider the Career pack a threat...! If she's gone, he's not safe!

I pull myself up to a new handhold before a hand clenches around my arm.

"What are you doing?!" Athena whispers. "He told us to wait so we wouldn't attract more attention! Do you want him caught in the crossfire?"

"No!" I say. Trucy shoots me a look, and I try to lower my voice. "If his sister just died, he's not safe on his own!"

"No, I heard her after the cannons! Get down!" She jerks my arm down, and I stumble back until she and Trucy right me.

I narrow my eyes at her. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. They're not very far away from us."

Well, that's comforting. I guess we technically outnumber them now, but I'm not feeling so great about them finding us when Simon is otherwise occupied.

I peek over the edge of the false summit. Simon is at the table, piling packages onto his jacket, which is spread out over the surface. No one has approached him, so I guess he and Athena are right. With the field as it is, he's invincible.

I count five containers on the jacket—all of ours—but he proceeds to add a small case marked 9 to the pile. The indignant squawk that follows is loud enough for even my commoner ears to pinpoint.

"Oh!" Athena hops and flashes a V for victory. "Was that Hugh? So that's why Simon took an extra box."

"Huh." I press on my forehead. "I thought he wanted to give the impression the guy with the high training score was one of his allies." Or maybe he was trying to do both? Geez. How much planning can he possibly do for one simple task?

Athena grins. "Well, he's about to be one of our allies. But... how do we get across with the Careers just to our left?"

There's no going around the other way with the rest of the mountain rising up past the trees. The greenery is thin there, too, so we won't be disguised well.

"How about we just cross the fake summit?" Trucy taps her lower lip. "To be honest, some of that food smells really good. And we may not all be trained fighters, but there are plenty of us. Will the Careers really attack us if we can gang up on them right away?"

"She has a point." Athena glances toward the Careers' apparent location and looks back at us. "Even if they want to build their kill lists—" the words put her close to visibly gagging—"they can't risk that much retaliation." With an exhale, she punches her palm and smiles. "We can use this chance to show them we're strong enough to take them!"

I slouch. "Provided Klavier doesn't throw up again?"

The 7 doesn't move from his observation perch, but he cranes his neck so I can see his scowl. "If I'm such a liability, I can just stay here while you fetch the others."

"I-I wasn't being that serious." Or loud. But I guess you could hear us whispering from a short distance away. How far to the left are the Careers, exactly...?

Athena waves a hand at us. "Here, Simon's almost back. We can all cross the summit together, okay? And I'm sure Klavier will be fine. He hasn't had any trouble since day five."

Turning himself around, he smiles up at her. "Thank you."

She smiles back before finding handholds higher up. "All right. Let's do this!"

Since there's a tree trunk barring my path, I have to wait for her to get past the first set of branches before I can start after her.

"Cykes-dono. What might you be doing?"

Our progress grinds to a halt. I can't see Athena's head through the leaves, but I'm sure she's peering up.

"We have to find Junie and Robin and Hugh," she whispers back. "Could you see where they were?"

I glimpse a single tribute darting for the table—the guy from 6 who had that impressive beard—as Simon exhales. "They were well-hidden, if present at all."

Before Athena can respond, Ted and Aura storm after the 6 boy. He springs away from the table, a loaf of bread and a bag in his arms, and scrambles for the upward slope where it isn't too steep. Apparently neither has any ranged weapons on hand, because they pursue him around the bend in a flurry of clattering rock pieces.

"Okay!" Trucy's voice is back to normal volume. "Now's our chance to go find them."

Wait, isn't there still one more Career?

Simon makes a low growling sound, but his loaded-up jacket thumps onto the ground. "Be quick."

Maybe not? I guess Simon's sure he isn't there.

"Right!" Athena surges forward, and I hurry after her. I'm still pulling myself onto the summit when she starts waving her arms. "Junie! Robin! Hugh! It's just me—Athena—and my allies! We're all friends, right? Come join up with us!"

Simon scans the ring of trees. "Show yourselves immediately, and I shan't kill you on sight."

Simon, that's not how you make friends.

Our whole alliance has made it onto the summit by the time branches shift across from us. I can make out the light, wide brim of the hat before anything else.

Juniper steps out onto the gravel, her hands clasped tightly together. Friends with most of our alliance or otherwise, she looks more nervous than anything as she looks over us. "Um, hello."

"Hey!" Athena smiles. "Doing okay?"

"I suppose..." She averts her gaze to the side. "How about you?"

"Great, thanks."

"Enough." Simon's eyes flash. "We should clear the area before anyone makes it back here. Are you alone?"

Juniper pauses, fingers tightening around her wrist.

"No." Another figure comes up behind her—Hugh, with one hand in his pocket and his other resting on a long weapon case of some sort. He scans us before tilting his head back with a smirk. "It might be nice to be in the company of someone with a training score comparable to mine."

Trucy looks between them. "And Robin?"

"READY TO ROLL, MAAAAAAAN!"

Yep, that would have to be her.

Charging onto the false summit, she takes her spot opposite Hugh and smiles. "So we're all teaming up? That's G-R-E-A-T!"

Simon jerks his chin toward the table. "Take your district gifts if you wish." He puts his hand to his sword hilt. "But if you dally, our alliance will be very short-lived."

Robin draws her hands back in distress, fingers curled, but Juniper just gasps before running for the table.

Athena frowns, hands on her hips. "What's the big rush? The Careers haven't even caught up to that Aristotle guy yet, by the sound of it."

"Are you serious?!" I draw back, mouth gaping. "You can hear them that far out?"

She laughs. "No, I just mean there hasn't been a cannon."

"Oh." I push my bangs back. "I guess—"

"Silence!" Simon slams his hand onto the table. "It's time for us to leave."

He plucks up our feast gifts and leads us past the trees.


	34. Heated Competition

Author's Note: Thanks again to my three reviewers! This project takes a lot of my time, so I'll take all the feedback and advertisement I can get, haha.

* * *

><p>"It's no good if you end up dropping all of it! Here, I can at least carry yours for a minute." Athena seizes the yellow backpack with a 2 on it, and Simon can't stop her with his arms full.<p>

The weight of the bag, however, can.

"Oof!" She stumbles forward, the bag hitting the rocks with a clanking rattle before she hauls it back up to her stomach level. "What on earth is in here?"

"I haven't peered inside yet. I only took enough time to confirm that the other was for my sister."

I grip an exposed root for balance as we go ahead. "There was no reason to stick around too long, I guess. We weren't even sure who those cannons were for."

"Herr Rimes and—" Klavier lowers his voice as he looks to Hugh—"your district partner, I suppose."

"Hm." Hugh keeps looking ahead. "It's not like I knew the girl personally."

I guess district partners don't have to be allies or friends, after all. Still, it's hard to believe they didn't even try to get to know each other. But, I guess if Hugh thought she was beneath him...

"What happened to the boy from 4, though?" Juniper doesn't look much less troubled. "He seemed very strong."

Trucy leans forward. "It was probably that explosion."

"Yeah, wasn't Ted trying to warn him about it?" I add. "He must have set it up himself."

"Really?" Klavier catches up to me. "He ran straight into a trap his own teammate had set up? How do you figure that?"

I scrunch my eyebrows together. "Well, he could have been elsewhere when the trap was set up. I know I wouldn't want to be around someone rigging explosives if it wasn't completely necessary."

"That's possible," he concedes. "But surely he would tell his own teammates where the trap was."

"Yeah, but... Marlon could have forgotten?" I stop myself from pushing my hair spikes back. "I mean, he must have been chasing after the 9 girl, right? In the heat of the moment, he could have overlooked it."

Klavier hits the rock behind him with the side of his fist. "But why set a trap in the first place if you're going to run after the tributes, anyway? It's dangerous, and it defeats the purpose of laying a trap. Surely the Careers are better strategists than that."

I glance at Robin, who has taken the paint-stained headband out of her gift bag, before looking back at him. "Fine, then what do you think happened?"

"Either a different tribute set up the trap and Herr Tonate happened to spot it first, or our mad bomber had decided to turn against his teammates. I can't say it would be wise, but the field _has_ thinned, and he could always seek weaker allies."

I shut my eyes for a second. "Turn against them? Now?" The Career pack has dropped in number pretty quickly, I have to admit. "But he wouldn't risk something like that when an alliance as large as ours is around, right? Especially when we have our own Career—" I glance at Simon—"of sorts."

"But did Herr Bomber have any idea where his lost teammates had rambled on to? Fräulein?" He smiles at Athena. "Did you give them any reason to think you were approaching us when you left?"

She frowns as Simon hands her her box from the feast. "No. They barely even knew we were leaving."

"There. He had no idea our alliance was so large, and he was confident enough that he could take on smaller groups—especially by snaring them in traps!"

Is... that really it? It's certainly less for us to worry about if the Career pack is completely broken up like that.

"I feel like we're missing something." Trucy looks over at Robin and Hugh, who seem to be discussing their district gifts, before staring ahead. "What exactly was it that happened again?"

"Exactly? I can't say, really; I only know what I heard." I pause before giving a start. "That's right!"

I point at Klavier. "Ted called out to stop him from running into the explosion! Why would he compromise his position if he wanted Marlon dead?"

He falls silent at that. Apollo: 1, Klavier: 0.

"So, if he didn't set it up, some other tribute must have, right?" Trucy looks to the trio. "I guess it wasn't any of you."

"Of course not." Hugh glances back at us. "While it would be an excellent idea, I'm certain that there was only one large set of explosives at the Cornucopia. There were a few other chemicals that may well do the trick, but nothing that would do as much damage as what happened at the feast. He wouldn't have used every bomb he had, but I'm sure they're meant to pack a punch."

"Someone could have stolen some," Trucy suggests. "Your district partner seemed pretty sneaky, after all."

He tilts his chin up with a smugger look. "If she did have the brains to pull off that kind of heist, she wouldn't have run straight into her own trap."

"Furthermore, that boy was very protective of his belongings," says Simon. "Combined with the typical security of the Career pack, no other tribute would be able to steal those incendiaries."

"And we've already decided that the Gamemakers wouldn't set a trap just outside the feast." Klavier points at me this time. "So no one but Herr Bomber could have caused that explosion!"

"I..." Is that true? I was so sure I was onto something. "But you still haven't explained why he would warn Marlon about the explosives if he didn't want to kill him!"

He grins. "Who can say? Perhaps he merely wanted to keep the other Career from knowing he had turned on them. Or do you really think it's more rational for Herr Rimes to have suddenly forgotten where the trap was?"

I mean, I doubt he was scatterbrained enough for that; he seemed coherent enough in his interview. So unless he was just that grieved about his district partner's death, or if something else happened—

Something—! Something else did happen!

I slam my fists down. "Actually, that's a completely rational possibility! You wouldn't expect a person to forget something that important, but Marlon had a head injury so bad he had to keep it bandaged up! Couldn't he have had memory or thought issues after that?"

Klavier flinches back.

"Now that I think about it, who was it that attacked you during the bloodbath?" I fold my arms.

He's sweating visibly. "Marlon..."

"So you know very well how hard he was hit—hard enough to send blood splashing across your jacket, no less. Would a resulting brain injury really be that hard to believe?"

"No..."

"All right, hold it!" Athena climbs down between us. "No matter who's responsible, the fact of the matter is that Marlon was killed because he was trying to murder another tribute. He... deserved it, okay?"

"Right..." Klavier swallows.

W-wait... I thought he was just distressed about losing the argument, but I guess I've more or less said Marlon died because of that injury he dealt.

"Whoa, whoa." I hold my palms up. "I-I'm not trying to push the blame on you, or anything like that! I'm just..."

I... What _am_ I trying to do?

"Just trying to get at the truth." He shuffles the chain on his shoulder. "Not one bit of shame in that."

I'm not sure what to say, so I go with:

"Uh, thanks."

I clamber ahead in silence for a minute before I'm suddenly hit with the significance of what Hugh said. As far as the limited explosives—sure, fine. But more importantly, he saw something at the bloodbath that I didn't. And if there's one thing, there could very well be another.

Gripping the straps of my backpack, I hurry forward to catch up with the 9.

"Hey, Hugh?"

He gets a sideways glimpse of me and adjusts to make room. "Yes?"

"During the bloodbath, did you happen to see—" my mouth suddenly feels dry, but I don't stop—"who killed Clay?"

"Clay, huh?" He falls silent, shutting his eyes for a moment. "No, I don't believe I caught a glimpse of him until after you had."

He watches me, and I flick my gaze down. So that means he saw me trying to save a dead man, huh?

"All right. Then..." I pull my backpack off one shoulder and find the usual pocket. "Did you see anyone holding this knife before that?"

He looks it over before shaking his head. "Nothing with a blade that small, I'm afraid. I take it you don't know any more than I do."

"N-no." I grimace.

Juniper falls back to my other side, frowning despite the skein of red and pink yarn in her hand. "What's wrong?"

I straighten myself out. "Oh, nothing—I'm fine; I just wanted to know if any of you had seen Clay at the bloodbath."

She gazes down, her left hand resting just below her mouth. "I was... preoccupied with some other things, so I didn't see much of anyone." She looks back at me, frowning. "I'm sorry."

"It's nothing to apologize about!" I steer the knife closer to her. "So I guess you didn't see this, either?"

"No..." She stares ahead suddenly. "Robin?"

The 11 "boy" turns around. "What are we looking at?"

I let out a breath. "This is the knife that killed Clay. Do you recognize it?"

She scrutinizes it, but I can tell in her eyes what she's going to say before she does. "No luck." She rubs under her eyes like she's trying not to cry. "And no idea who would do such a terrible thing to Clay, either! I'm sure he even made friends with some of the Careers."

"That would come as no surprise to me." Suppressing a sigh, I put the knife back. "Thanks for your help, anyway."

"No P-R-O-B!"

None of them had any tells, either... Though I guess it would be harder on me if they did. I still can't figure out what Athena would be lying about.

I... I don't know. But there has to be some way to find the truth, and I swear I'm going to. For Clay, for everyone he's been a friend to. I have to get to the bottom of this.

Somehow.


	35. Goodies

The feast gifts marked 5 are a tiny, black box and a pillow-like square wrapped in brown. There are no names or genders, so the best I can do is guess. The smaller one might be jewelry for Trucy, so I'll try the other first.

The package comes open with a ripping sound, revealing a mass of light blue cloth inside.

"Pretty sure this is yours." I toss it back to Trucy, who catches it and crosses her legs. Pulling out the cloth handful by handful, she gasps and clutches it to her chest.

"It's my cape!" She shakes it out and secures it around her shoulders with a wide smile.

"That's too cute!" Robin twirls around and covers her mouth with outstretched fingers. "You totally have to let me try it on sometime."

Trucy grins. "It matches my hat a lot better than it matches your headband, though."

She draws her hands back with a look of despondency. "Oh, no..."

"But that's your usual headband, right?" I lean back against the rocks. "The one you had in the Training center?"

"YOU BET IT IIIIIS! Now I can keep my bangs all nice and tidy."

By using an old, stained piece of cloth? Is that really better than any arena alternatives?

Putting it aside, I check over my shoulder, where some of the others are sitting. "So did everyone get something you own?"

"I'm pretty sure these are my own knitting needles." Juniper looks at the yarn in her lap. "This is new, but I guess it would be silly to have needles without any yarn. I wonder what I should make with it?" She turns the skein in her hand.

I chuckle. "Well, I could use a new jacket."

"Oh!" Her hands fly to her open mouth. "All right! There isn't much to work with, so it would be pretty thin, but—" she finds an end of the yarn and unravels some—"I'll see what I can—"

"Whoa, whoa!" I hold up my hands, leaning back. "I was just joking! You don't have to do that. Make whatever you want, okay?"

Freezing with both needles in hand, she lowers her arms. "Oh... Okay. Sorry."

"N-no, it's nothing to be sorry about."

"So, Apollo! What did you get?" Athena, a bit above me, leans over my shoulder.

I turn the box to find the top, but it doesn't rattle much. "I'm not sure. Do I own anything this small?" I mean, I have my own clothes, and my bracelet, but that's pretty much all that's personally mine. Well, except...

I slump. They wouldn't actually send me my hair gel, would they? I guess I would use it, and it could fit in here... Not exactly a prize worthy of a Hunger Games feast, though.

I dig my fingers under the top flap and pull it open. It takes a little angling to make the sun hit the inside.

The resulting gleam makes me freeze.

"What is it?" Trucy's voice is right by my ear—she must be peeking over my other shoulder. "A pin?"

Silently, I scoop up the gift, the metal cool in my palm. "Check it out." I present it to her.

"Oh, I've seen one of those before!" She looks up. "Somewhere." She squints at it before plucking it from my hand. "Now if I take this badge... And do this—" she tosses it into the air and claps her hands together to catch it—"and this..." She spins on one foot, her cape spreading out before she stops, smiling, and displays her empty hands. "See! It's gone!"

I jump to my feet. "H-hey! My badge! What'd you do with my badge?!"

She grins. "Ask Athena."

"What?" Athena's hands go to her cheeks in surprise. "I didn't touch it!"

I feel my hair spikes drooping. "It's on your lapel, anyway."

She looks down at her jacket and laughs. "Well, I think it looks pretty great on me!" She flashes a peace sign.

I jab a finger towards her. "Get your own!"

Trucy giggles, stepping between us with her arms behind her back. "Hey! No fighting." She holds a hand out to me. "And here's your badge. You can have it back now."

Athena exclaims and runs a finger over her empty lapel as I snatch the badge and pin it to my shirt, turning my opposite shoulder to Trucy.

That's the last time I let her touch anything of mine. Period.

Although, looking at it... it's strange to say that this is mine. I certainly didn't own it before the reapings. If it's a gift from my district, does that mean Maya saw fit to send it?

W-wait! You don't think—it's actually Phoenix's...?!

I play with the thought for a minute before dismissing it. I'm sure more than one exists. It would make more sense if it was different. I don't think the Wrights would part with the original so easily, even if a victor is doing the asking.

But the meaning still stands. Maya arranged for me to get something like this. She wants me to know... that I can be like him. Fighting for others. Fighting for truth. Even if he's gone, even if the Games are as dark as ever, that can continue—with me.

Because the people around me are worth defending. Honestly, there's precious little I can do for them here, but that doesn't mean I'm completely powerless. If the Capitol's going to take more of them away from me, I'll do my best to help them before that time comes.

Even if it's too late to help some of them...

I take a deep breath and look out at who I do have. We're going to be fine.

"You certainly seem pleased with your district gift, Athena." Klavier has donned his gaudy metal necklace by the time I look back at him.

Athena nods with a smile, her own necklace flashing a bright green. "I felt pretty lonely without him!"

"Ach, a Fräulein was lonely, and I didn't help? I'm deeply ashamed. But I will make it up to you, I promise to."

She grins, hands on her hips. "Es ist gut. How could I feel alone with all of you guys here? It was more... feeling like I was missing something. And now Widget's back to fill that hole!"

"_Hooray!_" her necklace adds.

I fold my arms. "Ready to force your Mood Matrix on some people?"

She clenches her fists. "I never force it on anybody! Although, actually... I can open the program, but without the glove, I can't input any information. So, no, I won't be using it on anyone."

"Huh." Hugh flips through his book, which I assume was too heavy to serve as his district token. "They didn't include it in the package?"

Athena sighs. "Nope. I guess our district gifts were limited to one item."

"But wouldn't mine be more than one no matter how you look at it?" Juniper scrunches her yarn in her hands.

"Probably." Trucy adjusts the clasp on her cape. "It could always be from sponsors, though, right?"

Juniper glances to the side. "I... I'm not sure I have any sponsors, with my training score and all."

"Are you kidding?!" Robin shouts before putting her arms behind her back. "I'm sure you've got plenty of sponsors." She gives the rest of us a sly grin. "There are at least six guys after her back home."

"Th-that's not true!" Juniper flushes, frowning. "There are..." She clasps her hands together, gaze flicking back and forth. "No more than five..."

Robin giggles, covering her mouth. "That you've noticed. I say there's decent evidence for N-I-N-E."

Juniper pulls the brim of her hat down on both sides over her face. "We're on national television. I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't spread rumors about me..."

Her district partner twirls around. "They're not rumors if they're true!"

Huh, I never would have thought. Not that she isn't pretty or nice enough, but... still. I wonder if I have a few girls after me that I haven't noticed? I think I'm pretty perceptive, but, you know. Something could have easily slipped by me before I figured out how to use my bracelet.

"As far as the district gifts are concerned..." Hugh looks calmly at Simon. "What was yours, anyway? There's no point to drawing conclusions before we've seen all the evidence."

"Very well." He drops his yellow backpack next to me with a clank. "Open it, Justice-dono."

"What? Why me?"

His eyes flash. "Cease your jabbering. A warrior's worth is determined by his actions, not his words."

Then why are you telling me to do it?

I don't feel like he's trying to bestow honor upon me or anything. As far as other reasons, all I can come up with is that it might be dangerous for him to open it. But why would it be? It's something for him sent by his own district—

Which is trying to execute him.

It did seem strange to give us morale boosters like these gifts just for a feast. I thought it was to provide us well-fed tributes with a motive for coming, but could it have been something more? Did District 2 arrange it so they would be able to keep Simon from winning, and without drawing suspicion?

But it would be pretty suspicious if only his bag blew up when it was opened, right? Uh...

Since my other option appears to be decapitation by katana, this isn't much more of a risk.

I aim the backpack away from me and unzip the single compartment. Nothing jumps out, so I try pulling and bending the back towards me to peer inside. It certainly doesn't look like anything that would explode or spew anything noxious on me.

Simon roars in laughter, slapping his palm down a few times before reaching into the bag and taking the shackles. "How thoughtful. My wrists were feeling unnaturally exposed without them."

Athena slouches, Widget turning bruise-colored. "What a great gift..."

Apparently there's nothing else suspicious about them, because Simon proceeds to fasten one to his left wrist. While he positions the second, Athena snatches the bag and checks inside.

"H-hey! There's no key in here!"

"Of course there isn't." Simon shuts the other manacle with a clack. "Who on earth would give a man a key at the very same moment they shackle him?"

Juniper gasps. "Th-then why did you...?"

"Are you expecting to receive the key later?" Klavier suggests with a frown.

"I doubt my district would see fit to send such a thing."

Trucy fists her hands. "Well, I've always wanted to try an escape artist trick!" She frowns, one fist falling under the other. "Except I haven't actually figured out how to do something like that yet."

"I shan't be needing any help." Simon crumples up the bag and has Taka tuck it into his less garish backpack. "I believe it's time we moved onward. We may have sponsors, but we cannot expect them to provide us with enough water day in and day out."

With that, he begins walking, leaving the rest of us to pack up and hurry after him. His chains rattle as he climbs ahead.

Is he really okay with those? They're obviously not much of a hindrance to him when he's used to the weight, but that can't be good for fighting, or even climbing. Is he just certain that he can get out of them without a key? We don't have much of anything to pick a lock, and I'm going to assume the district full of Peacekeepers doesn't use locks that could be picked easily. I guess he could try to slip out of them, but they look pretty well-fitted. I don't think he's getting out without breaking some thumbs.

So why on earth would he bother with them? I know he doesn't intend to get out alive, but what about protecting Athena? I don't see how restraining his hands could help him with that!

Is he just not as clever as I thought he was? Is...

I let out a sigh. I don't know. I don't understand this guy at all. I'm not sure whether I trust him with my life or if I think he'll slaughter all of us the next time anyone missteps. It's one or the other, though...

With a shake of my head, I cram my gift box in my pocket, admire the badge one more time, and keep pace with the others.


	36. Friends

Blackquill peers inside. "Another tunnel?"

"That's... what it looks like." I'm having a little trouble catching my breath, but I'm not alone in that. How high up are we, anyway? I haven't seen any trees since the false summit, so... probably pretty high. I'm not sure how this works, but it doesn't seem too horribly cold yet. I'm still managing without a jacket, although it is pretty blustery.

Athena sighs, gripping her elbow. "I... don't know if I want to go into another one."

"Ja." Klavier doesn't look any happier. "Although, considering our options... Being out in the open wouldn't be so dangerous with so many of us to fend off attackers, but a... flat area to lay down our sleeping bags would be nice."

I fold my arms. "This isn't... the same one we were in the first night, right?"

"No way," Trucy says. "We're... up a lot higher now. I wonder if they're all connected, though?"

"That would make sense." Somehow, of all people, Juniper seems to be doing the best as far as exhaustion. She frowns. "But why is it you don't want to go in one? Are they trapped?"

She's met with silence until Simon turns to face the shadowy cave. "With snares and beasts both."

She gasps. "Oh, dear."

Athena glances behind us at the setting sun before peering past Simon. "I guess we could at least check it out. It does sound a little less comfy trying to stay outside."

"And the first one I checked was pretty trap-free, at least for some time." I slowly get out the flashlight. "Let's give it a once-over—"

Before I can turn the switch, a faint rattle by my feet makes me stop. Rolling my eyes down without moving my head, I freeze up more as the source comes into view.

"S... Snaaaaaaaaake!" I spring back, nearly tripping over a rock fragment behind me.

The dried-up looking coil flicks its tongue at me, the diamond patterns on its scales undulating as it unwinds the slightest bit.

"What?!" Robin peeks over my shoulder and shrinks. "Juniper, help!"

"Goodness." Juniper snaps off a long branch from the bush behind her, creeps up to my side, and darts the forked end down onto the snake's head. The reptile uncoils, writhing, but it can't seem to squirm out from under the branch.

"Who has a knife?" Arms tensed, Juniper checks behind her.

"H-here!" Trucy readies one and offers it to the 11.

"I don't think I can hold this down with one arm. Can you cut off the head for me?"

Trucy's face twists a little in disgust, but she nods and kneels down. After a false start, she brings the knife down just outside the branch. The snake keeps twitching, though, and she has to do a little sawing to get the head completely separated. With a sigh of relief, she stands back up and cleans off the blade.

Meanwhile, I can't keep my gaze away from the decapitated snake still squirming around. "I-is it... still alive?"

"No." Juniper relaxes her grip on the branch. "They do that for a while after you kill them—kind of like chickens, actually."

"Oh." I still don't move any closer. "That's nice."

Athena snickers. "You don't have to be that scared, Apollo."

"Well—!" I clench my fists. "At least I was afraid of something dangerous! Isn't that the entire reason for fear?"

She taps at her earring. "Good point."

"Anyway, it shouldn't be any trouble now," Juniper starts after a minute. "As long as we can get rid of the head all right, we should be fine. We can even have the meat for supper!" She suddenly stops smiling. "I'm not sure how far it would go between all of us, though."

"No problem." Hugh tosses his backpack at his feet and starts to open it up with one hand. "I got some food from the summit table as well. It wouldn't be much of a 'feast' otherwise."

"Oh, good." She smiles again.

I watch the snake a little longer to make sure it's done writhing around before I let out a few "I'm fine"s and look at Juniper. "Uh, thanks for that."

"Oh—" she clasps her hands together. "No... It really wasn't much trouble. We get snakes in the garden all the time. They're not usually large or poisonous, but, well... Those do come in occasionally. You have to know how to handle them."

"Huh." I smile at her. "That was still pretty brave of you, though. I wasn't expecting it at all."

She fidgets, trying to tuck a loose strand of hair back into its braid. "I-it was nothing, really. I mean..." She tugs at the bottoms of her braids, her eyes watery. "I... would really like someone else to do the gutting and everything. I don't know if I could handle that..."

"I can do it." I warily nudge the snake with my foot, and it doesn't move any more than I would expect it to. "I did some practicing in the Training Center."

Juniper's knitting needles clack quietly as she lengthens a heart-covered scarf at amazing speed. "Thank you..."

"No problem. Trucy? Can I borrow a knife?"

She obliges, and I reach for the dead snake, pause, and slowly wrap my fingers around it. Still warm enough to send a shudder down my arm. Taka staring doesn't help.

"Well, at least you're facing your fears!" Athena clasps her hands together by her head with a hop of joy. "That's an important step!"

I slump. "I don't have anything to fear from a dead one... Although if someone could move the head farther away, that would be nice." I glance at Trucy. "Shoot, you don't have your gloves anymore."

"You pick up one job only to shove another onto a poor Fräulein? That's not very kind." Klavier steps up close enough to reach the snake head.

"Be careful!" Juniper frowns. "Th-that's still dangerous. Maybe you should cover your hand with your sleeve?"

He throws a smile back at her. "I thank you for the words of wisdom. We're trying to get this far away from us, though, right? I think I have just the method."

He adjusts the position of his feet before picking one up and slamming the toe into the snake head in a wide kick. He immediately staggers back, but he can't right himself. Before he manages to fall on his rear, Simon puts out a hand to stop him.

"Whoa!" Robin shouts. "Are you okay, man?"

"I'm all right." Klavier wobbles back onto his feet, but not without assistance. "Nobody worry about me. Just slipped on some of the grit."

My bracelet tightens. I'm not surprised—he hasn't had the best balance or walking ability since the Career battle. He just pushed it a little too far this time trying to look cool. As long as he doesn't do something outrageously stupid and fall off the side of the mountain, we'll be fine. It is getting steeper, but once we're using cables and bungee cords, I don't think balance will even be that important.

Athena seems to have picked up on the discord, too, but she shakes it off for now. "So, Junie! You decided to work on a scarf?"

"Um, yes." She rubs some of the completed pink-and-red mesh of fabric between her fingers. "If you don't know what to knit, scarves are sort of a default."

"So are you going to give it to someone when you're done?" The 3 grins. "Someone special?"

"Th-Thena!" Juniper tugs on her braids in distress.

"I bet I know who it is."

"Who? Who?" Trucy watches the both of them intently.

"I think I know, too," Robin chimes.

Juniper just tries not to burst into tears. "Please don't..."

Her district partner giggles. "F-I-N-E. But you know the truth will come out eventually!"

"Even if Robin doesn't spill it, I bet we could piece it together." Trucy fists her hands. "All right! Is it for Hugh?"

"Eh?!" Hugh nearly drops his weapon case as he presses a hand to his neck. "H-how dare you judge what you don't understand? We're the best of friends, and that's all!"

Robin is back to her yelling stance. I wonder how well it would work for Chords of Steel? ...Maybe too well. "YEAH, MAN! Juniper, Hugh, and I are the best friends EVER!"

I'm honestly a little surprised that Hugh is included in this. Robin and Juniper have been friends for a while longer, it sounds like, while they've only known Hugh for about two weeks. But I guess a situation under fire like this will forge friendships faster. If they somehow don't mind Hugh's company and all of his disparaging remarks, there's really no reason to think they aren't a tightly-knit circle of friends.

I wonder if it will last... But what friendship could withstand the Hunger Games from the inside? Even me and Trucy, me and Athena, Athena and Simon... We...

"Are we going to check the tunnel for traps or what?" I click on the flashlight and wave it until someone who's not busy trying to gut a snake—in this case, Simon—takes it.

"I'll clear whatever area I can as you prepare the meal. Should anyone approach, warn me."

I swallow, cutting at the snake skin. "Yeah. Same on your side."

* * *

><p>We set up all of our bedrolls at the front of the tunnel before the anthem starts. I take care of the clipboard myself. I don't want to watch, but... I can't make Trucy do this, after Jinxie adopted the paper and pen for herself. It's hard enough for me to glance at Clay's jacket and knife that I wouldn't touch them if I knew who had killed him.<p>

Tonight we see Marlon and the elusive face of Hugh's district partner. Then we're back to the Capitol seal. See? That wasn't scary...

The Careers never caught up to Aristotle, it looks like. I wonder how he managed that.

Clicking the pen closed, I scan the top paper.

1F  
>3M<br>4F 4M  
>6F<br>7F  
>8F 8M<br>9F  
>10F 10M<br>12F 12M

So many tributes gone... Dead. It's hard to believe. Couldn't someone have stopped this? Any of us? Anyone outside? How can something like this... be allowed to keep happening?

Some of these people are my friends. People who have looked after me, on some level. How are they gone...?

But... I still have friends left. Here, with me. I have to pay attention to them now, while I know I can.

With an exhale, I finger my badge, pack up the clipboard, and head for my sleeping bag.


	37. The Voice of Your Heart

"Hey, Junie? Do you mind if I ask you something?"

Juniper stops rolling up her sleeping bag and turns to Athena. "That's fine. What is it?"

"Well..." The 3 drops her voice before shooting me a look. "Apollo! Can't you tell we're trying to discuss some secrets, girl to girl?"

"Wh-wha—Okay?" I back up towards the mouth of the cave. Simon took Hugh to scout some of the tunnel with him—not too much of it, of course—while Klavier and Trucy are a bit farther down the mountain trying to hunt down a rabbit, although I feel like at least one of them might prefer to keep it in a hat.

"Ooh, did I hear something about discussing secrets?" Robin peeks over my shoulder. "Wonder what it is!"

I sweat. "Apparently you're not supposed to find out."

Robin covers her mouth with splayed fingers. "But Juniper and I are best friends! She can trust me with all of her secrets, right?"

Putting aside the feeling that she may not be the best at keeping secrets, I frown a little. "And I suppose she knows all of your secrets?" I press a finger to my forehead. "I can think of one that you only spilled not too long ago."

She draws her hands backs, gasping. "But I—!" Only a moment passes before she's shouting again. "ALL RIGHT! I understand now! Friends just have to keep secrets sometimes!"

For some reason, I can feel my bracelet clamping down on my wrist. What could that be in response to? I'm only paying any attention to Robin, so...

"Robin?" I rub my wrist until the bracelet is back to normal. "Could you repeat that? Maybe with a little less volume."

"Sure thing, man!" She settles down a bit, stretching her arms down behind her back. "I said, all right! I understand now! Friends just have _to keep S·E_·_C_·_R_·_E_·_T_·_S—_!"

"Gotcha!"

There—right when she said that, her hands tensed in a strange way. The entire left hand, and the index finger of the right. But what could I link that to? I can't think of any way this could relate to her big secret, or to any sort of weapon. If I do the same sort of thing with my hands...

"Six?" I don't realize I say it out loud until it's too late to stop myself.

Robin squeezes her arm above the elbow. "Six? Six what, man?"

I frown. "You tell me. For some reason, when you thought about friends keeping secrets from each other, you remembered something about the number six."

She avoids my gaze. "I-I don't know what you're talking about."

"Did something happen on Day 6?" I fold my arms.

"Day S-I-X? No way. We were just chilling out, and then heading for the summit after that announcement. Nothing to keep secret."

"How about District 6?" I try. "Something to do with Aristotle, or—" what was her name?—"Constance?"

"N-n-n... No!" She suddenly puts her hand to her forehead and, with a fluid motion, swoons and falls to the ground. That was way too slow and gentle for her to have actually fallen unconscious.

"Robin." I put my fists down. "Tell me what happened with the District 6 tributes. I won't disclose it to Hugh or Juniper if you don't want me to."

She plays dead for a moment longer before rising and grabbing her upper arm again. "You promise? Like... a promise between men?"

Uh... Seeing as you're not a man, it's not quite like that. But you have to keep the audience fooled, I guess.

"Sure. A promise between men."

I finally loosen my focus and watch her more casually. "So, what's so secret about the tributes from District 6?"

"It's not both of them, just Constance. She was killed in the bloodbath, you know?" She sniffles. "It was awful. Blood everywhere."

"That does sound pretty bad. Who was responsible?"

She grabs at her arm again. "That's the thing. I... It was..." With another dramatic motion, she faints away.

"Robin! I know you're conscious!"

Pouting, she gets up and rubs under her eyes. "I don't know who it was! But... But it had to have been one of us three!"

Robin, Juniper, or Hugh? One of them? I can't imagine Juniper killing someone, let alone so early. The others... I don't know them too well, but I doubt they would kill for glory, either. It would be a real problem for the alliance if they did, though.

I shut my eyes in thought. "What do you mean, 'had to have been'?"

"We were the only ones close enough. Constance was already collapsed just a few moments in, and the awl that had dealt the fatal wound, well, it had been right by her, too."

I dwell on this for a moment before squatting down and running a finger over the ground. It's just dusty enough.

"Okay. Let's say this is the circle of starting plates. Where were you three and Constance, and anyone else nearby?"

She kneels down and traces a few small but perfect circles along the curve I drew. "I was the farthest over this way." She puts an R in the leftmost circle. "I think the 1 girl was past me, but she never came this way. I kept an eye on her, because she was dangerous, you know." She rubs under her eyes until I attempt a few words of sympathy.

"That must have been pretty scary. So, you couldn't see Constance's murder because you were preoccupied with the Career to your left?"

"Mmm-hmm." She goes on to draw a J, C, H, and A in the next circles, from left to right.

"Who's A? Aristotle?"

She nods. "I don't know who was past him, or the scary lady."

"And Hugh is sure that Aristotle didn't cross him?"

She grips her arm. "Hugh hasn't really talked about the bloodbath. But Aristotle didn't do it, I know for a F-A-C-T. Anyway, that's how the starting plates were. So we were really the only ones close enough."

"Why do you keep saying 'we'?" I press my index finger to my forehead, my other hand resting in the crook of my arm. "You didn't do it, did you?"

"No way!" she responds in her usual shouting pose before rubbing her arm again. "But there's no way it was Juniper. And no way it was Hugh."

I slouch. "So you're including yourself as a suspect just because the others don't make sense? Don't you remember whether or not you did it?"

"I would totally remember something like that." She lets out a breath before frowning down at her schematic.

I still haven't gotten a straight answer out of her...

"But you thought of all of this when you brought up keeping secrets from each other, right?" I say. "So who's keeping what secret?"

"I mean... We've all told each other we haven't killed anyone, but someone must have been hiding something given the situation, but... AAAGH!" She hurls her water bottle to the ground, where it bounces a little and rolls to her feet. I wonder how much abuse that thing has taken so far. "There's no way, man! My friends wouldn't do that to an innocent tribute!"

"But you're also sure it wasn't—"

I'm distracted by a flash of light in the tunnel. Athena and Juniper shut their own mouths as a beam of light sweeps out toward us. I can't hear the footsteps—are all of the tunnels that way?—but the clanking of chains is loud enough. Looks like the boys are back.

And with that, I guess there's no more discussing "a secret between men." Not for now, at least.

"Herr Blackquill! Anything of interest back there?"

Simon turns off the flashlight before coming to a stop at the edge of the sunlight. "Very little of interest aside from the stream of sorts."

"Of sorts?" Athena rests her hands on her hips.

"It was more of a sorry waterfall." Hugh shifts his weapon case with a bump of the shoulder. "About as slow as a mouth-breather when compared to bona-fide geniuses." He adjusts his glasses with a smirk. "None in particular, of course."

"How slow are we talking?" I fold my arms. "How long to fill up a water bottle?"

Simon presents his spare bottle, which has enough water to cover the bottom and not much more. "This came after a period of waiting—a man who hasn't spent long years in the clink beyond the reach of the sun would likely call it substantial."

Trucy looks up, mouth scrunched to one side. "So, most of the time you were gone? That's really not much water for that..."

"Needless to say, it isn't a splendid source for such a large alliance," Hugh says.

Juniper frowns. "So we keep moving?"

"So it appears." Klavier smiles at her. "But don't fret about it. If you tire, I'll be happy enough to carry you myself."

Carry her? You can barely climb by yourself with all your wobbling. She's holding out a lot better than you, honestly.

"Now that I think about it, I haven't heard you cough at all since we've been here," I tell her with a smile. "Feeling better?"

She smiles back. "Yes! The air's so much clearer out here than in the Capitol. It's just like home." She clasps her hands together. "Well, where I live, at least. I can't say the city is that great in District 11, either."

"Well, that's good." I glance at the ground. "Need any help packing up your bedroll?" It's the last one out by now. Once it's finished, we can go.

"Oh, um..." She stutters for a moment before Athena elbows her. "I am having a little trouble rolling it tightly enough to fit in the bag."

"Yeah." I step over and lower myself to get to the sleeping bag. "They don't seem very well-designed for that."

We manage to cram it in the bag somehow, and then we're off again. There was a little action yesterday, right? Enough for us to avoid trouble if we don't go looking for it? Although I feel like it always finds me, anyway...

* * *

><p>Some fat burritos were sent for lunch, even though we still have some rabbit and another snake. I guess Klavier dropping his food so much yesterday was a ploy to get his brother to send in better food. Kind of childish, if you ask me. I won't complain about what I'm getting out of it, though. As long as this isn't wasting funds we're going to need later, I'm fine with it.<p>

"Hey, Apollo." Athena plops herself down next to me, glancing at Trucy since she's the closest. "Can we talk about something, in private?"

"Huh? Sure." I chew up the rest of my lunch and follow her over a few meters.

She lets out a breath, scanning our group of allies. Simon is staring at us, but he's just trying to keep an eye on Athena. As long as he's not listening too intently, we shouldn't have a problem. I don't appreciate the glare much, though.

"You've been allied with Klavier for a while, right?" she starts.

And here I thought she was going to explain her reaction to that knife... Although I guess I didn't actually tell her I saw anything. And I didn't, really. I probably just misread her somehow.

"Since before we ran into you and Simon, at least. We didn't speak much before the Games started, though."

She nods. "All right. You might still have some idea." Folding her arms loosely, she taps her earring enough to make it swing at a steady pace. "For some reason, there has been more and more panic in his voice. Do you know why?"

I frown. "Panic? Are you sure?"

"I know panic when I hear it, Apollo."

"R-right. Well..." I stare at the clouds. "The Games are charging ahead. He could just be worried about his chances, right? Even a guy like him has to be uncertain about winning from time to time. We all are."

She looks down, Widget turning blue. "We really are. It's... hard to listen to any of us talk here. Even if it's not about anything threatening, we're all afraid. Honestly, it's probably not a good idea for me to be around so many people like this." She fists her hands. "But I'll pull through, don't worry!"

"I know you will. You're fine." I shut my eyes. "So, Klavier sounds more afraid than the rest of us do?"

"Not so much at first." She frowns, hands on her hips. "I mean, I can't be too worried just because my allies are scared. I'll do what I can to help, but it's perfectly normal. I'm only concerned about him because he's getting worse and worse. And as hard as he tries to hide it, I don't think I'll be able to get the cause out of him without using a Mood Matrix." She squints at the sky pointedly. "I could use my glove, you know!"

A moment of nothing but quiet conversation off where the others are passes before she sighs and looks back at me. "I guess that's not an option."

_"It's one glove! Stingy jerks!"_

She slumps. "Widget, no. I, uh, didn't mean that," she informs the sky.

I snort and look over at the others. Simon is still the only one in clear view, although I think I can make out Klavier's light hair over one of the rocks.

"Maybe it's his head injury. He's been having some balance issues, and a lot of pain. He could be afraid he'll run out of painkillers. That would explain it, right?"

"Yeah... No, wait! He's rich, remember? I'm sure he could afford more if he needed them."

I flinch back. "Then why did you give them to him in the first place?"

"What, I'm not allowed to be nice to rich people?!" she snarls, fists clenched and a little too close to my head. "And the rest of you could have used them, too!"

"Okay, okay! I was just asking."

"Right..." Sighing, she taps at her earring. "I guess you could be right. Maybe he's scared of the pain continuing to get worse, with or without medicine. I don't know what else it could be."

"Me, either. If it's that serious, he can tell us himself. Otherwise, it's hard to help."

She nods. "You can't make any progress in therapy if you're not willing to build a trusting relationship with your therapist." Her gaze falls as she grips her arm. "I don't know if he doesn't trust us, or if he's trying to stay strong, but I don't think he's going to open up."

"Probably not." I slowly pop my knuckles, watching Taka fly back from his own meal. After a minute, I turn to Athena. "Ready to go back, then? They're probably almost finished."

"A-actually, Juniper..." Her ponytail nearly slaps me as she shakes her head. "Never mind. We can talk about that later. Allons-y!" She gets up abruptly, tugging on my arm until I'm standing with her, and nearly drags me back to the rest of the alliance.


	38. Juniper's Troubles

It's evening before Athena pulls Juniper and me aside. There haven't been any cannons today, and the Gamemakers might be getting ready to push some buttons, so I'd really rather keep a lookout. But Athena's here, so Simon's keeping a sharp eye on us. If anything comes, he's sure to save her, and hopefully that won't require using me as bait.

"It's probably better if he hears it straight from you." Athena nods at Juniper.

"All right." The 11 girl looks to me, frowning. "It's about what happened at the bloodbath."

"Okay." It has to be about Constance. But what Robin told me is supposed to be a secret, so I'll see if I can figure it out from Juniper's perspective. I'm sure I'll have more to work with, at least.

"The female tribute from District 6, Constance, was stabbed to death almost immediately. So I'm sure that it must have been someone that started out close to her, but..." She clasps her hands together in front of her chest. "The only ones very close were my allies and I, and her own district partner."

I fold my arms. "I take it you're sure it wasn't either of your allies?"

"O-of course!" She places an open palm on her collarbone as I feel some tension in my wrist. "But it couldn't have been Aristotle, either. I... I actually asked Constance to be one of my allies, but she rejected the offer because she was already allied with him." She frowns, dropping her hands. "Apparently they had already known each other, so I can understand why."

"I see..." But if it wasn't him—and I did sense a reaction when she said she was sure her friends hadn't done it. "So, what exactly is your account of what happened? It could help me figure out who the culprit was."

She nods. "Well, I was in the middle of a coughing fit when the gong sounded, so I missed a few things. I could still tell that Robin was to my left, and Constance, Hugh, and Aristotle were right of me. All of us started for the supplies. There was an awl some distance ahead of me, but I tried to pick up some closer supplies—a few clear canteens of water—instead. Robin was headed for a bag ahead of me, past the awl, and Hugh was going straight toward the Cornucopia. I don't remember seeing where Aristotle was going, and I only saw Constance going forward, not what supplies she was trying to get. I... I was slipping around on the mud, so I'm afraid I paid more attention to myself at that point, a-and..." She grips her wrist. "The next time I looked, Constance was dead."

I squeeze my eyes shut in thought. "Where were the others at that time?"

After a pause, she says, "Robin had gotten the bag and was hurrying toward me. Hugh was near the Cornucopia, and I don't think he had picked anything up yet. Aristotle was struggling to pick up a crate of supplies not far behind Hugh. I don't think he had realized that his ally was gone yet."

"Huh." I try to picture it in my mind's eye—Juniper in the foreground, a dead Constance some feet in front of her, Robin maybe a bit farther ahead and to the left, Aristotle opposite her, and Hugh a bit behind him. If we're going to go with proximity alone, I guess Hugh wouldn't be a suspect, although it is odd that he hadn't quite gotten to the Cornucopia or even picked anything else up. Was he slowed down by something else entirely...?

"She's already gone over this with me." Athena crosses her ankles. "But I thought it would help if both of us were on the case, you know? I'm sure we can crack it together."

"All right. Then, what's your theory so far?" I respond.

Athena folds her arms loosely, frowning and staring at the grey clouds. "Well, if no one else was even in the area, it does sound like it has to be one of them. Of course, I would suspect Aristotle first, but with him being her ally, I can't imagine him going after her so early in. Especially if they knew each other beforehand. He kept saying in his interview that he would win by any means necessary, but I don't see how it would be beneficial to him to murder someone who could help him gather supplies and fight off enemies. And, if he was busy trying to lift that crate, he couldn't have stabbed her in the middle of that."

"I guess you're right. But do we know he was struggling to lift those supplies before the murder?"

Juniper glances from side to side. "I'm not certain, no. But Thena's right—he had no reason to kill her."

"None of you three had a great reason to kill her, either. You weren't allies with Constance, but that still doesn't mean you would go out of your way to stab her when she was just trying to get supplies." I sift through my memories of other bloodbaths. "Are you sure she was stabbed?"

Juniper's hands fly to her mouth. "Of course! The awl was buried in her abdomen, and blood had spattered all around."

I rest my arm on a rock to my left. "But are you sure she didn't just trip and fall onto it?"

She looks down. "It was in her side, though, almost towards the front. It would have been very difficult to fall like that... Not to mention she was facing upwards when I saw her body."

I cross my arms, frowning. "So, basically, no explanation makes much sense."

Athena sighs. "Seems that way. There's got to be a way to figure it out, though. Come on, Apollo! Did I drag you into this for nothing?"

I draw back. "U-uh..."

She's right. I must be able to contribute something. Considering Robin's testimony... Well, that was more or less just confirmation that the girl from 1 didn't do it. She wasn't on the scene here, anyway. There has to be something else.

"Have you told me everything, Juniper?" I look between her and Athena. "There has to be some reason you brought this up in the first place, right? Is this what you two were talking about this morning?"

Athena nods.

"Then you're the one that brought it up?" I frown. "Were you there—well, you don't remember. I'm sure Juniper would have seen you... Was there something you heard?"

The redhead puts her hands on her hips, looking no happier. "Yeah, that's why I approached Juniper about it. I didn't know it concerned Constance's death at the time, but..." She looks down. "There was some discord in her voice talking about certain things, and I wanted to know the source."

"Certain things being?" I say.

Juniper looks far enough down her eyes seem closed as she partly covers her mouth. "My friendship with my allies. Just because it's so hard to be sure that neither of them was responsible for what happened..." She leans forward a little, making eye contact again. "But I know it couldn't have been Hugh or Robin!"

My bracelet tightens. "You... know, huh? For a fact?"

"Y-yes! Neither of them would do such a thing to someone we wanted as an ally! Th-they wouldn't even—" she clamps her hand around her wrist—"do that to another human being otherwise! I-if it was an accident, they would have told me... We trust each other—we have to! We're allies and best friends, and... I don't doubt either Robin _or H·U_·_G_·_H_—"

Gotcha! Her shoulders hunch a little when she says Hugh's name. Is she trying not to cough?

"Juniper." I fold my arms. "You trust us, too, right?"

She looks up at me. "Yes..."

"Then you shouldn't hold anything important back from us, either, right? I think you left out something. Something about Hugh."

She responds with a pained gasp. "I... I..."

Making a choking sound, she dissolves into tears. "I..." She presses one arm against her stomach and tries to push in the tears from the side with her other hand. "I su-suspected Hugh from the start..."

"Why is that?" Athena's voice is quiet but steady as she puts a hand on Juniper's quaking shoulder.

"R-right after I saw Constance's body... his hands... were dripping with blood...!"

"Blood?!" I grimace. "Are you sure?"

She nods, shoulders continuing to jerk as she cries. "I had h-hoped it was just and accident, o-or maybe that he had been attacked by Aristotle... But Hugh w-won't tell us what happened. Why would he want to keep it a secret if he... if he hadn't..." She gasps for breath. "But he couldn't have...! Wh-why won't he tell me? Why won't he tell either of us? We're s-supposed to be best friends... We're supposed to t-trust each other...! But how can I say that wh-when I'm suspicious of him and haven't told him? Oh... What am I supposed to do?"

Athena pulls her into a hug, and the two of them sniffle for a while before I get up. "Athena? Come on. I might need your help."

The 3 looks to me, eyebrows lowered. "What are you doing?"

"I'll talk to Hugh myself." I rub my wrist beneath the bracelet. "Between the two of us, I'm sure we can figure out the truth."

Juniper sucks in a breath. "I-I... I don't know if I'm ready to hear it..."

"It's okay, Junie." Athena puts her hands on her friend's shoulders. "I know you can handle whatever we find out. You're stronger than you think, all right?"

"A..." She sniffs. "A-all right."

Athena smiles at her. "So, come on. You can hang out with the others for a while, while we take care of this."

Juniper still needs a little help getting to her feet, so Athena and I both take a hand and lead her back.


	39. Pointing Fingers

The others are packing up leftover pieces of our dinner wraps, but it's not the most difficult work, and we get Hugh to ourselves without much trouble.

"What is it?" He flips through his book with his thumb without it affecting his grip. "It must be extremely important if you expect me to talk to you when Juniper is over there crying." He claps the book shut and meets my gaze.

"Hey, she's perfectly okay now!" Athena responds, hands fisted. "She just had to get something off her chest. Even more, it's your fault she was keeping that secret to begin with, so you have no right to lecture us about it."

"Is that so?" He shifts his line of sight to her. "Go on, then. What on earth do you think I did to hurt my friend like that?"

"Tell us what happened at the bloodbath," I say. "I can't expect you to trust us with anything you wouldn't tell Juniper, but we _will_ get the truth out of you. Do you understand?"

"Is that a threat?"

"Nope." Athena folds her arms. "It's just being honest. Now, tell us what happened to you in the first few minutes of the Games."

"Not a significant amount." He starts going through his book again. "I oriented myself, retrieved some necessary supplies from the Cornucopia, and met up with my allies."

I wait for a minute before crossing my arms. "You're going to have to give us a little more detail than that."

"I hate to say I'm not precisely sure how many steps I took. Other than that... To put it simply, there are no details you need to know."

"That's a lie!" Athena looks ready to slap him. "It was important enough to Juniper, and we're only asking for her sake!"

He fumbles a bit, hand going to his neck. "Does she really think I killed Constance?"

I slam my fists down. "How did you know that's what she thought? We never mentioned it, and she was keeping it secret from you!"

He settles down. "She's in the throes of pain because of this, and the only significant thing that happened near me at the bloodbath was Constance's death. What else am I to assume?" He smirks, though he's sweating a bit. "Although the three of us made a pact not to kill anyone—we won't be able to abolish this dark age together otherwise. I suppose Juniper doesn't think that highly of me after all if she's willing to accuse me."

Athena points at him. "Well, can you convince us you're innocent? She said you had blood dripping from your hands. Can you explain that?"

"And don't try to say she was lying or imagining it. I can prove the existence of blood traces with a kit a friend left me, no matter how hard you've tried to wipe it away!" I don't know if it still works on week-old blood traces, but he doesn't need to know that.

"Hmph." He turns his face toward us again. "I wouldn't dream of calling her a liar. But I'm afraid a little blood on my hands is entirely unrelated." He pauses before removing his left hand from his pocket. It's heavily bandaged, some bloodstains reaching the outermost layer.

"I... was mistakenly stabbed by my district partner by the Cornucopia." He seems a little twitchy for admitting something as innocent as that. "My hand hasn't been functioning properly since, although it thankfully hasn't gotten infected."

Now that I think about it, he's had that hand in his pocket every time I've looked at him. And then...

* * *

><p><em>"I think it's a puma." Trucy peeks over the rocks before ducking back down next to me.<em>

_"Sounds dangerous." I resist the temptation to look for myself. No need to alert it to our presence. "Can you hit it?"_

_"It's still a little far."_

_"I suppose it would be, for a mouth-breather." Hugh gets to his feet and slips a longbow out of his weapon case along with an arrow. "I'll handle this."_

_He proceeds to nock the arrow with his mouth, jawline quivering as he holds it in place while pushing the bow out in front of him horizontally._

_I may not have spent much time at the archery station, but I'm sure that is _not_ how you use a bow—_

_He takes a moment to aim before letting the arrow fly. It goes straight through the puma's chest._

_—Unless you're Hugh._

_Well, there's where his training score came from._

* * *

><p>"Do you have any other reason to think I did it?"<p>

I exchange a look with Athena.

"Well, someone had to have done it," she says, frowning and tapping her earring.

He smirks, turning his nose up. "That's some solid reasoning, although I don't see how it points to me."

"Then who do you say did it?" I ask him.

"Hmph. I'll leave it to your feeble minds to work out. I have better things to pursue." He whips out his book again. How has he not finished it, flipping through so quickly?

"So... could it have been Robin?" Athena shifts her gaze to me, although her eyes are still thoughtful. "I wouldn't expect that from h-him, but..."

I frown. "But he's the only other suspect?"

"For all your jabbering, you've yet to reach the most logical conclusion."

"S-Simon!" Athena turns towards the tribute stepping away from the rest of the group. "What do you mean?"

He smirks, settling onto a rock across from Athena and me. "If we're eliminating suspects by distance, and it wasn't Golden Boy here, the next most likely culprit is Little Miss Sunshine herself."

"Little... Y-you don't mean Junie, do you?" Athena stares at him, her necklace glowing yellow before flashing red. "That's the least logical conclusion! She's so peaceful she never even got a weapon!"

"Because she left it behind in the victim's body." He taps his forehead a few times, chains jangling. "Surely she would have thought to pick something up from the first battle if she cared at all for her survival—yet she made it out with nothing."

"But she had her friends!" Athena counters. "And it's not like she could use some fancy weapon if she got her hands on it, anyway. She wouldn't even try. And she certainly wouldn't kill Constance for no reason!"

"Narrowing the field isn't reason enough?" He gazes at her evenly. "In that case, she's the only suspect with a motive—revenge for rejecting her offer of alliance."

I put my fists down. "But even for that, Juniper wouldn't—!"

"Silence!" He slams his fists down on the rock in front of him, hard enough to startle Taka.

Was–was that a chain link that just flew by me?

Simon only gives me a black look for a moment before spitting the feather in his mouth at me. Just before it reaches my nose, he slashes it in half. I can see the years of my life reflected in the blade for one brief moment.

"Aaaack!" I'm gonna die, we're all gonna die, Simon's gonna kill everyone...

"Do you mean to cite her innocence?" He glowers at us. "That kind of sentimentalism is inappropriate for this discussion. Even the most innocent will lash out when their well-being is threatened."

Somehow, Athena seems more distracted than me now despite not having a katana inches from her face. I'm still not in the best position to come up with a good argument, especially when Simon's hand is still on his sword and his handcuffs hang broken. Those things are solid metal, aren't they...?

"That's enough!" Hugh grimaces, a hand pressed to his neck. "Don't you dare accuse Juniper of such a thing! Do you have any evidence?" He tilts his chin up. "You don't even have evidence that I didn't kill Constance, do you?"

Simon's eyes flash. "Your successful raid of the Cornucopia suggests you didn't have much time to spare, and the state of your hand suggests you were in no condition to go about stabbing people."

"Ha!" With a swift motion, the 9 draws his bow one-handed. "I can shoot perfectly well with an injured hand! A simple stabbing would be even easier!"

"So..." Athena frowns. "Are you admitting you did it?"

Hugh grips his neck. "Perhaps I am."

Simon turns his back to us. "This is a waste of time. Run in circles all you like, but it won't change what really happened."

But we have to figure out the truth to respond to it, instead of just jumping to conclusions like you!

"The girl from 6 is dead because someone killed her. That's all." He looks over his shoulder at us with a smirk. "Unless you believe that whoever is innocent may still be trustworthy. In reality, no one in this situation can be trusted. Unless, of course, you don't mind a deadly betrayal."

I clench my fists. "That's... not true..."

"Exactly! Otherwise..." She points at Simon. "You'd be saying I can't even trust you!"

He falls silent, staring ahead. "I suppose that, ultimately, that's true. Seeing as I am already a dead man, my situation is a bit different than the other tributes', but I could potentially betray you any moment. People don't always act rationally, after all."

Athena plants her hands on her hips, scowling. "Will you quit calling yourself dead? The odds aren't in your favor, sure, but you're still alive and one of the few trained fighters left! You could very well make it out!"

He doesn't face her. "Not one person from District 2 sent into battle for execution has returned alive. Even if I did, I would be swinging above the gallows in a matter of days."

Snatching a feather of Taka's before it can float to the ground, he chews on it and grins over his shoulder at her. "So, it's your own choice. Do you trust me to get you out alive? Or do you hope against reason that I can get out alive and in so doing cast aside any reason for trusting in me?"

He lets it sink in before he takes his first step away. "I've had enough of all this foolish talk. Come. It's time we set up camp."


	40. For Something Important

Athena hears the stream moments before we spot it ahead. No wider than the last one we spotted, it trickles down from above. Something dead and furry is mucking it up, but that's further down. Up here, it looks fine.

"It's not far from those trees, either," Juniper comments. "There are probably quite a few animals and good plants around if we look for them."

I peer at the grove, a little farther from the stream than we are now. "We'll be sure to check it out."

"For now, we might as well steal some water." Klavier starts toward the stream, fumbling with his water bottle clip to get it off his belt, though he doesn't have much success.

"Hang on!" Trucy holds a hand out towards him, staring at the trees.

"Hm?" He swings his head around to look.

I follow Trucy's gaze just before a tribute hurries toward the stream. It's the last non-Career outside of this alliance, carrying a small, plastic tub and some sort of globe on a staff. Not the biggest threat to an alliance our size, but...

"How about we wait a minute on that, Klavier?" I try to keep it down. "No need to run into him if we don't have to."

"Indeed. Such an undemanding victory is hardly worth pursuing." Simon watches the tribute from 6 kneel by the bank. "Although..."

"Wait, that's Aristotle!" Juniper gasps.

"Er, yeah, it is." I give her a look before realizing that her whole little trio of friends has stiffened. "You don't think we could get some useful information our of him, do you?"

Juniper covers her mouth, looking down. "Well, I don't think he saw the moment Constance died, but..."

"But another testimony might be enough to piece together who must have done it." I fold my arms. "All right. I think it's worth checking out."

"Wait." Hugh steps in front of me. "This alliance is a force to be reckoned with—if we all come at him, he'll flee."

"Like a frightened rabbit..." Trucy crosses her arms. "How many is too many, though? However many he can't take on with that staff?"

I press on my forehead. "Yeah, that's probably about right. He may be able to handle two, given he escaped the Careers."

"Achtung!" Klavier has managed to turn himself around to face the rest of us. "What's this about Constance...?"

"Oh, look, someone who didn't eavesdrop on our private conversations." Hugh opens up his book. "In short, Constance was killed at the bloodbath by one of us—me, Juniper, Robin, or Aristotle. We've already discussed difficulties concerning time and motive, but he isn't the topmost suspect and could probably give us accurate statements without fear of us, say, trying to exact revenge on him."

"But only if none of you three are involved would he feel truly safe about giving his statement." Klavier swipes his thumb across his fingertips. "Am I right?"

I frown. "On the other hand, I'm not sure what he would think about a couple of uninvolved people asking questions about her murder."

"Uninvolved?" He pauses before smiling. "He didn't shadow his district partner during training. He can't be certain who interacted with or tried to strike up an alliance with her. Who's to say we weren't involved?"

"Good point." Trucy lets her arms drop. "So, who goes? Two of us, right?"

"Well, Simon would scare him off alone or otherwise, so..." Athena slouches.

"I'll take up one spot. Who else? Herr Forehead?"

"Sure." I feel like it would be best with me and Athena or me and Trucy—with both parties being decent at spotting lies—but he seems adamant about this. "Is everyone all right with that?"

"I can't see any reason against it," Athena says, Widget adding, _"Good luck."_

Trucy fists her hands. "Be careful. He could have fought off the Careers himself, you know."

"Without a single scratch or burn?" Simon smirks. "I dare say he merely outran them."

"Well, that's good for us!" my district partner responds with an emphatic nod. "All right, Polly! Go get to the bottom of this!"

I rub my wrist. "I'll be glad to."

I stay at Klavier's slow pace as we approach the stream.

I have to admit, Simon had a point—all of the viewers know what happened, so we're not really solving anything. Distrust is going to be stirred up among us even if Constance was the victim of some unseen party or a freak accident. But I have a chance to repair the trio's friendship, or at least their suspicions about each other, and that's what I'm going to do. That's what I'm obligated to do.

My fingers brush my badge before Aristotle catches sight of us. Leaving his container in one hand, he withdraws the other from the water and grips his staff.

"Good morning," Klavier starts.

Aristotle blinks, his small pair of glasses sliding down a bit on his nose. "Good morning." He smiles a bit too widely.

"Do you mind if we ask you a few things?" I cross my arms as we come to a stop opposite him, the stream lapping quietly between us. "We're not looking for a fight right now. Just some information."

He pauses before setting his water container down and giving us an "OK" gesture. "I'll do what I can. What is it you wish to know?"

"Constance Courte was your district partner, correct?" Klavier starts.

"Yes. She was a fine young lady, if a bit idealistic." He frowns in an oddly stern way. "It's a shame I wasn't able to remain allied with her after the bloodbath."

"You were nearby when she was killed, weren't you?" I keep an eye on his hand, but he's not tensing up to put that staff to use yet. "Did you see the culprit?"

His expression doesn't lighten. "I did. Not in the act, mind you—I wasn't in the most rational state of mind when the Hunger Games began, as I suspect was the same for many others—but I noticed enough before and after to deduce who it was."

"Well?" I point at him. "Who was it?"

He returns to his neutral smile. "I'm not certain if you know her—I believe she was from District 11?"

"Wh-whaaaat?" I draw back. "J-Juniper?!"

"Ah, was that her name?"

"Yes." Teeth gritted, Klavier stoops over a little bit. "Are you serious...?"

Aristotle slowly points toward the sky before giving us the creepy-grinned "OK" again. "I, Aristotle Means, always say what I mean and mean what I say, by all means!"

That is more than enough name puns for one sentence. He can't be telling the truth, though, right? Maybe I was too focused on his staff to tell.

"You said you had inferred it?" I slip a hand out of the crook of my elbow to prod at my forehead. "Would you mind telling us what details you had inferred this from?"

"Certainly." He somehow maintains that grin while he's speaking. "I'll do my best to remember the details.

"Before Constance was killed, before the Games even began, I was between yourself, Mr. Gavin, and that girl from 11. Juniper, you say?—was next to Constance. My district partner and I were able to locate each other quickly, and then we turned to investigate the goods laid out before us. When the gong sounded, we and most of the others took off. Juniper, however, hesitated before going forward. I didn't keep the sharpest eye on her, but I'm certain she was holding the awl that killed Constance before she bloodied it. I was preoccupied with supplies, picking up some things and going after a rather heavy crate of nonperishable food. It was while I was struggling with that that I first saw Constance's dead body face-down in the mud. The awl had been left in her side, but Juniper was still quite close. Why, if I had had a weapon and less self-restraint, I may have avenged my friend by any means possible right then and there."

"Is that right?" I fist my hands. "If you don't mind, could you describe the state of her body in a bit more detail?"

"I don't recall it so precisely." He strokes his chin before wrinkling his nose and dropping his hand. I guess he's used to the beard. "She wasn't holding anything with which she could defend herself. Her arms and legs were more or less together, I believe."

"What about Fräulein Juniper? You said she was close, but was there any blood on her? The way you've described it, Constance very well could have fallen onto the awl after Juniper dropped it."

"I suppose that's possible." He resumes his normal smile. "I couldn't make out blood on her, but these jackets hide stains well. It would be very odd for Juniper to innocently drop the awl at such a convenient time and place, though. The handle looked like light wood—I doubt it would have landed spike-up."

That's true. But I'm sure something he said didn't add up with someone else's account. Whose was it again...?

Robin's? Juniper's? Hugh's?

Juniper's, right?

"Objection!" I lower my eyebrows. "What you said conflicts with what we already knew about this death. Constance was actually found face-up!"

"Face-up...?" Aristotle adjusts his glasses. "And who told you that? After how much time had passed? I'm certain someone scavenging supplies later could have kicked her over a bit."

"No, this was right after she was murdered!" I fist my hands. "So how on earth did you see her face-down?"

"Indeed. I don't think she flipped over by her own power after she had been killed." Klavier slams a fist into the rock behind him. "Care to explain the discrepancy?"

"Hmm." He looks genuinely puzzled. "I'm certain I last saw her face-down, though."

I fold my arms halfway, pressing on my forehead with my index finger. "And you're also certain that this was right after she was killed?"

"Yes, it must have been just after. I hadn't turned away from her for long."

I feel a throb in my wrist. "Could you repeat that?"

He grins. "It must have been just after her death, as I hadn't turned away from her for long."

It wasn't until the very end—"for long"? That's where the lie is?

"What exactly do you mean by, 'for long'?"

He considers my question. "It's hard to say exactly, when I was so affected by adrenaline. I assure you I didn't turn away long enough for someone else to have come by, killed her, and escaped."

My bracelet didn't detect any lying there... But if he really didn't turn away for much time, and he tenses up when he says it wasn't for long...

"Hold it!" I stare at him. "Did you turn away from her at all?"

"What?" He adjusts his glasses as if that will let him hear me better. "Of course! I would have seen her death firsthand otherwise."

I cross my arms. "And what's so impossible about that? I think you've been lying to us, Aristotle, and that is the only thing we don't want."

"So, supposing you did witness her death, and that's the source of the contradiction we've come upon..." Klavier says. "Logically, that would mean that she fell face-down during her murder but was flipped onto her back a moment later."

"Sh-she..." The 6 wipes his forehead, frowning. "She must have clung to life for a moment and tried to push herself up."

I fist my hands. "What do you mean, 'must have'? Didn't you see this for yourself?!" I point at him. "I think the only reason you've lied about this is because you don't want us to know the true killer. And the only one that would benefit would be the killer." I fold my arms, smirking. "So, why are you covering for the person who murdered your friend? Since you're not allied with any of the other suspects, the only reason you could possibly have is to protect yourself!"

"Preposterous!" He puts a hand behind him to steady against a tree, but the nearest branch is beyond his reach. Overcorrecting, he stumbles forward, almost straight into the stream.

"Well? Can you explain yourself?" My ally pounds the rock behind him with a fist, the chains around his shoulder and necklace rattling. "Constance was an exceptional person, and I have no intention of letting the truth about her death slip past me."

"I see." Aristotle's mouth widens into his unnerving grin. "I assure you your friend is only jumping to conclusions. Why, just because I saw Constance before she was flipped over hardly means I did it myself."

"But it hardly means you didn't!" I counter. "You're going to have to tell us everything much more accurately if you want to claim innocence."

Klavier hasn't broken his gaze. "Tell us exactly what happened—for the sake of your district partner, if you ever cared for her, or... for your own sake."

The 6 slowly points upward and flashes an "OK." "Very well. Allow me a moment to gather my thoughts."

He watches the ground, adjusting his feet a bit so he's almost standing on top of his staff. Actually, there's a small, metal plate jutting off of the bottom—to ground it, I guess. Does he think we're about to try and take it from him? Klavier kind of sounded like he was threatening him, but he wouldn't actually do anything to Aristotle, right?

The tribute next to me hasn't unraveled any of his chain, though, and he's not going to reach him across the stream otherwise.

It's fine. All I need to do is listen to Aristotle again and see what I can get out of him. He's pretty much cornered if it was him—if it wasn't, well... I still want to know.

I turn my attention back to the 6 in time to see him pulling his staff up with a twist—and I can make out the gleam of the blade inside before he jabs it our way.

"Watch out!" I push Klavier to the side, but he shoves me back before I can get hurt.

As I'm trying to right myself, the spearhead plunges into his stomach.


	41. Don't Fear the Reaper

Author's Note: Just a brief thank-you to my reviewers—Lord Axxingtons, White Weasel, Obiwanlivesforever, and Lilac Winters21!

* * *

><p>Klavier hits the ground without dislodging the weapon. When the spearhead is completely buried in his abdomen, it's not mystifying.<p>

"Klavier!" Before I can get any closer to him, Aristotle tears the spear back out, nearly dumping my ally headfirst into the stream in the process. I catch Klavier's shoulders before he can flop forward any more. Considering the choked, gasping sounds coming from him, he's not dead yet, but that wound is bleeding badly.

Teeth gritted in fear, I flash my gaze back to the 6, who's just now aiming the spear my way. My hand goes for the sword handle—if I try to deflect it bare-handed, this situation could end even worse than it already is. I manage to block Aristotle's weapon with the broad side of my blade, but he recovers quickly. The next jab isn't aimed at me, though.

It clangs off the side of Simon's handcuff just before the 2 snaps his other wrist forward, sending the metal links crashing into Aristotle's teeth.

The 6 immediately steps back, a hand flying to his bleeding mouth. He barely gives us another look before fleeing into the trees.

Simon stands poised with his hand above his hilt before straightening up. "Hmph. The blood of such a coward isn't worthy of staining my blade."

Pulse pounding in my temples, I shakily sheathe my sword and look back at Klavier. He's slumped to the ground, propped up on one elbow a little bit. He's still breathing, but he's still bleeding.

I have to... I have to pack the wound, right, when it's this deep? Or something?

"Hang on." I kneel down, setting my backpack in front of me and getting the package of bandages out.

Once he tilts his head enough to see what I'm doing, he grunts. "Save it."

"Are you kidding?" I open the plastic covering. "People can survive with some pretty bad wounds, you know—"

"Save it!" He scowls before his face relaxes. "You're not going to be able to help me. I've been climbing the stairway to heaven for a long while now—even if we stop the bleeding, I'm... not going to make it."

"Wh-what?" Robin has come up on his other side, Athena and Juniper behind her. "What are you talking about?"

He either clears his throat poorly or chokes in pain. "I assume it's the head injury. I don't know exactly what happened, but... I'm sure you all noticed that I've had headaches and my sense of balance is gone. But that's not where the damage stopped... I've been... slowly losing control of my body. Legs, arms, eyes, hands... It's been hard enough today just to keep my words from slurring. Whatever happened has been getting worse, and there's no question I would die from it." He coughs, and the edges of his teeth are suddenly red. "Not that this is very much fun, either."

You… You've been dying…? This whole time? How did you keep that from all of us? How did I not figure it out? Surely he had some nervous twitches about this—

But he couldn't have twitched if he can't control fine movements…!

Athena did pick up on his panic, but, to think, he kept his secret so tightly guarded. Beneath a smile, even. A Gavin family trait, I guess.

Klavier put it to much better use.

"There's no way!" Athena's fists are clenched, although Widget is a deep blue. "You're telling me you have a million sponsors, but they can't send something to save you? I don't believe it! Apollo! Give me the bandages. I'll fix this up myself."

"Do you think I would've thrown myself into that spear if I could have recovered from this?" snaps Klavier. "Certainly not if I could've helped it. It should've been clear there's something wrong with me after I got that head wound, but no medicine was sent. And m' brother may not be an angel, but he wouldn't let me die like this 'f he could help it."

I swallow, remembering Trucy frantically checking Ema's pulse. "So you think you needed surgery."

Hugh stares down at him. "And it would be foolish to trust any teenagers with the task of performing an operation on your brain, expensive tools supplied or otherwise."

Klavier shuts his eyes. "Show's over. Now the seats're all empty... Let the roadies take the stage..." He hacks again, almost sitting up from the effort before whimpering and lying back down.

"Here!" Athena reaches underneath him to get at his pouch and the pill bottle inside. "If you're going to... Never mind, just—" She fumbles with the lid.

"Nein." The 7 waves an arm at her. " 'll be dead before..." I can't make out the rest of the sentence, but I think I can figure it out easily enough. He knows very well how long those painkillers take to act.

Athena lowers the bottle, hand still clamped on the lid. That's when the parachute lands near Hugh. The donation is in sight before the cloth obscures it, and Athena snaps up the syringe before anyone else can reach for it. She looks it over before inhaling choppily and taking the cover off the tip.

"Klavier?" She nudges her way past Trucy and kneels by his side. "It's all going to be okay now." She scrunches up his jacket sleeve, revealing several bruises she doesn't comment on as she tries to find the right place to insert the needle. Robin helps her out, and the clear liquid is gone from the syringe in a few seconds. Klavier starts to relax almost immediately. I imagine it must have been the highest quality painkiller money could buy. There's nothing else for his sponsors to spend it on.

I realize I'm gritting my teeth to keep from crying. This is the best we can do. I've done everything that I could for him. I even tried to prevent this, but this is what he wanted. Nothing to blame myself for. But what a horrible way to be dying, and to finally die... And all for what? He kept his friend out of the Games from the beginning, but he didn't make it out alive.

Is that really it? No victories? Even if I have tried to help, what difference does it make to him now? What does it matter that I have Phoenix's badge if I can't put it to good use? But what else can I really do? It's just about being trustworthy, and trusting in each other to the end.

I do trust Klavier. Death wish or not, he got me away from that spearhead, and, honestly, he hasn't been that bad a guy. I'm kind of ashamed I was so completely suspicious of him in training and the first days, just because...

Just because of his...

It hits me. The self-sacrifice and constant aid to earn his allies' trust rightfully. The fear of having killed someone, even someone who attacked him. Maybe he could really be that good of a guy, but... For him to panic so much about possibly, inadvertently causing a killer to die by someone else's hand...

I fist my hands, pulling them back. "Klavier! For what it's worth... You're nothing like your brother."

Hand draped across his wound, he gets out a surprisingly clear laugh and manages to smile until his cannon fires.

* * *

><p>Juniper's group of friends has clustered further upstream. They're not taking it as hard when they didn't know Klavier as well, so they're sorting through his supplies to see who gets to carry what now. Simon, standing between the two groups, offers to carry the chains since such a weight is nothing new to him, anyway.<p>

Athena, Trucy, and I aren't too far upstream of where the last tribute died. This is a good spot to refill our water bottles and canteens. I guess they'll fill up Klavier's over there when they get to it.

Trucy just stares at the water's rippling surface, while Athena can't stop fidgeting.

"You guys doing okay?"

"Mmm-hmm." Trucy nods. "As okay I could be. Athena?"

She covers an ear with her free hand. "Yeah... I'm okay."

My wrist tenses. "You know you can talk to us, right?"

"Of course! There's just... nothing wrong, besides the obvious."

Trucy, eyes fixed on her, frowns. "Athena. Your hand has brushed your throat both times you told us that. Can you please tell us what's on your mind?"

Ah, is that what her twitch was? I was looking at the wrong spot.

The 3 sighs quietly, gripping her arm. "I... I just... RAAGH!" With a cry, she picks up a smaller rock and hurls it across the stream and into the grove beyond. "I hate not being able to do anything about this! I've studied psychology so I can finally help people, but it doesn't even matter here! We're just going to keep dying whatever happens, and I... I might as well not be here at all...!" Eyes and teeth clenched, she hunches over, shivering.

"That's not true!" I try to catch her eye. "Of course you don't _deserve_ to be here, but you've done us good. You helped out Robin before we even set foot into the arena, and I'm sure he's not the only one. Even here... you haven't spent much time with this alliance yet, but you're still looking after us. And none of us could keep Klavier from dying, but you were still the one who tried to take away his pain—and you did."

"I know it may not seem like much in the face of all of this—people dying, people being seriously hurt..." Trucy clenches her fists. "But that doesn't make you useless! It's a hard situation to work with, but that's not your fault! And just because you don't have all of the equipment doesn't mean you can't stage a good show." She holds out her palm, my badge sitting plainly on display. "See?"

I slouch. "You've... got to stop taking that, Trucy."

She pouts, fists against her hips. "I needed some visual aid, and I wasn't about to take something of Athena's when she's so upset!"

"Fine. Can I have it back, though?"

"Sure."

By the time I fix the pin on my shirt, Athena is smiling.

"Thanks, you guys. I needed that."

"No problem." I rest my bracelet wrist on the rocks. "We all need some assurance sometimes."

"And it feels like it's been ages since I've done a trick." Trucy folds her arms, gazing at the clouds. "Maybe I could do a full show tonight. The viewers would love it, right?" She bounces a little, grinning. "They sure enjoyed my magic panties on interview night!"

"You... didn't smuggle those in here, right...?" I sweat.

"Of course not. But I have plenty of other tricks up my sleeve!"

I cross my arms, smiling. "I'm sure you do."

Eyes on the back of Athena's head, I pause. Her tell was touching her throat? What does that have to do with being helpful? Breathing? Swallowing? Her voice? What's in her past that would make her equate those things...?

Now's... not a great time to ask. We have enough to deal with already.

I toss an iodine tablet into my full bottle and screw the cap on.


	42. Collapse

"I'm sure there's still game to be shot." Hugh adjusts the bow case on his shoulder. "They're probably just avoiding this area. You're all reeking it up with human scents."

Juniper crosses her legs, leaning back against the outside edge of the cave. "Are you sure about going out, though? We've been relatively safe in here..."

Hugh adjusts his glasses. "Starving isn't safe. We may have to move altogether when we've stripped the place of edible plants. But for now, we have to do something. We can't depend on constant donations anymore, after all."

Yeah. I don't know how many sponsors had bet on Klavier, but it was apparently more than the rest of us combined. Between that and the prices steadily rising like in every other Games, we're only going to get critical donations from here on out. Food would be critical, but there are so many mouths in this one alliance it has to be hard to afford enough, and, well, you wouldn't want us to start fighting each other for scraps.

Yesterday was mostly gloomy. A light drizzle, a few berries and leaves from the grove across the stream. Aristotle was killed—the day after he killed Klavier. I don't know if he got a nasty dental infection from the damage Simon dealt or if the Careers found him. Either way, we don't have to worry about him hurting anyone else. Aura and Ted, on the other hand...

"It's all right, man. I'll go with you." Robin gets to her feet, stretching. "I'm sure the two of us can find something. If it's far, you can shoot it, and if it's close, I can knife it!" She spins her survival knife in her palm twice before dropping it.

"Be more careful than that!" Hugh rubs his neck. "We're not going to find more of those lying around."

Robin rubs under her eyes. "Well, no, they don't grow on trees..." She twirls around. "But somebody else could have totally dropped one just like I did now!" Smiling she covers her mouth with fingers spread. "Right?"

Hugh sighs. "Anyway, we'll sound an alarm if anything goes wrong. I'm sure you'll be able to hear Robin no matter where we are."

Athena grins. "And we can use Apollo to communicate long-distance on our side!"

I... am going to try really hard to take that as a compliment.

"Okay." Juniper frowns, clasping her hands above her knees. "Be careful, though. And don't stay on your own for too long."

"We'll start back at noon." Hugh smirks a little more, tilting his face to the side. "I'm sure we can find a few things by then. If not, we could always eat Taka."

Simon's sword slashes a piece of Hugh's bangs off before I can even fully register the words. With a squawk, the 9 cringes back.

"How dare you insinuate such a thing?!"

Hugh waves a hand at him. "I-I was joking! For goodness' sake..."

"Well, I would find it much more amusing if you were to tumble down the mountain in pieces! Would you like to continue playing the jester? For I shall be more than happy to assist you."

"No! I'm done." He rubs the side of his neck.

"Come on, now." Robin puts her hands on her hips. "That's not very N-I-C-E, Mr. Birdman."

"B-Birdman...?!" Simon puts a hand to his chest as if struck.

"All right, that's enough of that." I push my hair spikes out of my face. "Go ahead before he changes his mind."

"Good suggestion." Still sweating, Hugh adjusts his weapon case so he can grip the rocks.

"Hmph." Simon strokes under Taka's beak, the hawk responding with what I guess is a happy screech. "Taka has just as much of a human soul as you or I." Eyes flashing, he turns to Hugh. "I suggest you keep that in mind."

"R-right." Hugh smirks but quickly turns around and starts climbing away. Robin takes off after him.

Still not sitting down, Simon leans back against the cave wall with another disbelieving scoff.

* * *

><p>Juniper and Trucy lead us through the grove to get a few more morsels, but it doesn't take more than an hour. There's still some time to wait on the others.<p>

It's incredibly hard to sit and wait around here. It makes you want to think, and what is there to think about? The competition. The most recent friends dead. Earlier friends dead. Current friends dying. Anything can happen here, and half of it has. And there's nothing to do but wait until the next thing and try to deal with that...

"How long are you going to make that scarf, anyway?" Athena leans over Juniper's shoulder.

Startled, the 11 looks up. "O-oh. Until I run out of yarn, I guess."

"You're lucky you got something to do." Athena thunks down next to her, palms on the ground. "Widget has a few games, but none I can play without a glove."

_"Come on, sponsors!"_

She sighs.

"What, are you bored?" Trucy bounces on the balls of her feet. "I can fix that!"

"Oh, can you?" She smiles.

Trucy poses, gripping the brim of her hat. "Of course! I'm a professional. Polly, come over here."

"Wh-what? What do you need me for?"

She keeps smiling. "Well, there aren't many impressive tricks I can do with just a couple and knives and your sword, but I can outline you in knives and—oh! I bet I could pull off sawing you in half!"

I draw back. "H-how about neither of those?! Can you at least ask for a volunteer, because I'm not volunteering for this."

"Oh, come on, Polly!"

Juniper frowns. "Some smaller tricks would be fine with me. You don't have to pick on Apollo all of the time..."

Athena grins. "Aw, but it's fun! All right, all right. What else have you got, Trucy?"

"Well..."

As she prepares to ponder her options, a roar comes from above. I can feel the tremor of the mountain before a sudden wave of heat comes down.

"A-aaah!" Athena covers her ears and looks up. "Wha—!"

Shivering already, I follow her gaze.

A few stories above us, rocks are flying out from some ledge. It's mostly horizontal, a soaring line of everything from gravel to a chunk half my size, but it starts to rain down within a second. Every piece hits the rocks above us and skids down, and I'm able to sidestep all of it.

"What was that?" I turn to Athena. "Did you hear Robin or Hugh?"

She shakes her head. "But no cannons, either—"

Another boom nearly knocks me off my feet, and, judging by the shouts, the others are just as taken aback. I take a look around before Simon shouts for us to run.

Another flurry of rocks is coming down now, huge chunks and smaller ones all accelerating towards us. Simon is already dragging Athena down the path to my left, but I hesitate. The rocks are only rolling down. Maybe, if we can get to the trees in time, they'll be able to break their momentum.

"Apollo!" Trucy, already some distance ahead of me, reaches an arm back. "Juniper! Hurry up!"

"R-right!" I swing my backpack around to the front and take off after them, Juniper right behind me.

A few chunks of rock have made it to our level—small, airborne ones that scratch at my scalp and poke at my torso. But the larger ones aren't coming down slowly by any means—they have some friction to deal with, but they're still tumbling toward us.

Ted must have set this up. Even if it's Careers, two of them against all of us wouldn't be the best fight. So if he could sow some bombs by our shelter and get rid of us that way—

Wait, the tunnel! It's going to be closed off!

I cast a look back, and, with the ledge in front of our hideout, there's no question boulders are going to fall in front of it.

Shoot! We had just found a place to stay, and now...!

Ugh! There's no helping it! Right now, all we can do is save ourselves. We didn't leave anything too important in there, anyway.

...No, the forensics kit!

But... I guess... it's really not that important... strictly speaking. It's pretty bulky, and we don't have any real use for it. It was important to Ema, but... it's not like she can use it. We just have to keep going without her—I mean, the kit... Both, I guess.

"Waah!"

Behind me!

"Juniper!" I turn just in time to see her crashing onto the path face-first—she must have tripped.

"A-Apollo!" She starts to push herself, but the rocks are too close back there. She'll never make it.

No...! Not her, too!

I turn the rest of the way and sprint towards her. She's only managed to prop herself up a bit by the time I come to a stop.

"It's okay," I pant, reaching for her shoulders. But when I glance back at the rocks, they're too close. There's no time to get her out of the way.

Darn it!

I shield her as well as I can and get as good a foothold and handhold I can find.

The first rock glances off my far shoulder, pushing it forward a little. Juniper is hunkered down now, so it doesn't shove the backpack into her face.

Some stinging gravel forces me to shut my eyes as more rocks come. Skipping stones that punch and bounce off. A big one that crashes straight onto my back.

"Aagh!" Teeth gritted, I force myself to stay in position. If I lose my grip, we're both done for.

Another rock hits the side of my neck, another slashing across my left forearm. Two more hit my back, one cuts my cheek, one smashes my elbow, tears across my hand, smashes into my back, cuts my shoulder, pounds my arm...

I lose track. All I can say is, thank God the one that hits my head is small.

Chest heaving, I tremble, scream caught in my throat as a few smaller rocks brush my calves. I... th-think... it's over...

Choking, I risk a look up, an extra shot of pain going down my neck.

A stone gashes across my right eye.

Nearly knocked off my feet, I at least confirm that nothing else is coming before my arm starts to give out.

"A-agh..." I try to tighten my grip, but it just sends a jolt down my forearm. But I c-can't... fall now... I...

My back starts to throb before I feel the blood trickling down my arms, down my cheek. The tension and exhaustion in my limbs is suddenly nothing to worry about as pounding, burning, piercing pain bubbles up all along my back and arms.

"A... a-aah... AAAAAAAAH!"

I—I can't... can't h-handle... N-no, my hand...!

My grip fails, and my foot catches in its nook as I fall sideways.

I... Die? Am I a-about... It hurts... A-aaah...

A shrill shriek meets my ears, compounding my headache, as something shoots across my abdomen, keeping me from going any farther.

That's... That's good... Ow... G-gah...

The pain makes everything else an unwanted buzz. I can only handle so much. I... can't even handle the pain by itself... I... And my eye... And... H-how much am I bleeding? I c-can't tell...

"Junie! Junie. It's okay—"

I don't know when exactly I started screaming, but I certainly haven't stopped. So my throat's gonna be raw, too... Who cares...

"—Trucy's taking care of him—"

What's g-going on?

"—Are you all right?"

If I can't tell... can I please... lose all consciousness?

"It's okay. Let's talk it out. Talk to me, Junie."

Please...


	43. Keep Pushing On

Klavier's pills hardly do a thing. Maybe a little bit of the shooting pain from the open wounds is gone, but everything else that's been hit, not so much. My eye's not doing well, either. I don't know exactly how badly it was injured, but I don't think I'll be using it any time soon.

But I can't just lie here. We... have to get to shelter before the sun goes down. It's still barely past noon, but... I don't know when we'll be able to find something, especially if I have to move.

It's a little chillier today, so I can't help but shiver every once in a while. And in response to that movement, more nerves start firing, and I have to stop myself from shouting. And in response to that strain—or just generally breathing, especially if I have to actually get in some air instead of breathing so shallowly my chest doesn't actually move—causes more pain, and... It's bad enough without me doing anything. Why does it have to get worse?

But it's not like I can stop breathing, so I'll have to deal with it. Somehow. Just like all of the psychological pain, I have to handle the physical pain if I'm going to do any good.

That's still easier said than done.

Hugh and Robin return with some kind of goose and a few eggs. Between that and some of our plants, it won't be a bad meal. Aside from the fact that eating involves movement.

If I try to talk, I'll probably lose all control and go back to screaming, so I silently watch the others decide how to split up rations between lunch and dinner for seven people. Juniper suggests a stew and gets started on it right away with Robin's help. I'm pretty hungry, but I can wait. It's not like I have much of a choice.

Time passes, some people chatter, most ask how I'm doing every once in a while. I can't give an honest answer without aggravating whatever damage my ribs have taken, so I tell them I'm fine.

Finally the stew is ready. As the rest get their shares, Juniper scoops some into an emptied water bottle and hurries over to me.

"Um, Apollo? Do you think you can handle the meat, o-or would you rather just drink the broth?"

I'm certainly hungry enough for the meat. "I'll try the meat," I mumble, raising a hand toward the bottle but immediately cringing back and groaning.

She flinches. "I-I'm sorry... Here, I can..." She scoots right next to me and holds the bottle not far from my nose. With that meaty smell, I'll start drooling if I'm not careful. "I-if it's all right..."

"That's fine." I breathe in a little too deeply and choke on air, trying not to curse.

"I'm sorry...!" She pulls on a braid with her free hand but makes herself stop. "I... Th-thank you for protecting me. I-I'm so sorry that I... I..." She breaks into a coughing fit, the arm holding the bottle shaking.

"Wh-whoa! Are you okay?" I take a few slow breaths and try to give her a look over. I didn't really see if she had taken any damage. But when did she start coughing again?

The 11 pulls a sunflower out of her hair—when did she lose her hat?—and inhales from it a few times before replacing it. "I-I'm all right," she says with a frown. "I just... inhaled some grit, I guess..." She coughs a few more times, but it doesn't get as out of control. She looks more sickly than ever, though.

"Well, t-take it easy. Just because I'm hurt doesn't mean... doesn't mean you don't need to be taken care of, too." I feel the beads of sweat gathering on my forehead, but it's not worth trying to wipe it off. The bandages across my eye will soak it up if it starts running, anyway.

"Ah... R-right." She brings her other hand to the canteen. "Well, I'm going to start giving you broth, okay? Um, tell me if I go too fast..."

The first wave of broth fills my mouth—savory, a little salty, definitely gamey, but nice and warm. It only takes a little spluttering to get Juniper to stop, and we get through the bottle without me choking or her spilling too much.

"All right..." She sets the bottle down and wrings her hands. "I... I-I'm going to check on your eye, all right? I'll try not to pull the bandage away too hard—" she coughs—"or anything..."

The whole ordeal of eating has made my neck and chest thoroughly sore, so I just grunt a vague response and shut my eyes. Prickles go around my injured eye as she starts to remove the bandage, but I hold my breath, and soon I can feel the pressure and moisture of the cloth lifting away. I... don't think I can sense the difference in light with my right eye. Th-that... could be temporary...

Juniper starts coughing so hard I open my other eye. Pale but trying to get a hold of herself, she shakily picks up some ointment. When she looks back at my eye, she starts hacking all over again.

"Whoa, whoa!" I nearly hold a hand out to stop her. "Juniper! J-just—" I have to grit my teeth for a second as pain shoots across my ribs—"c-calm down... okay? We're both fine. And... if it's too much for you, you can have someone else look at the damage. Y-you haven't eaten your lunch yet, have you?"

She clasps her hands together in front of her chest. "Well, no, but..."

"Then go get your share!" That comes out a little too loudly, so I clear my throat. "Maybe it will help with your cough some. Get... a little of your strength back."

She continues to shift her gaze around nervously. "Um... Okay... Did it taste all right?"

"Yeah, it tasted fine. Nice and warm, too."

"All right... Oh!" Her hands fly to her mouth. "Are you cold? Y-you don't have a jacket... H-here...!" She starts shuffling her jacket off her shoulders.

I actually hold up a hand this time, much to my regret. "Ack...! N-no, you don't have to... You don't have to do that. Juniper. Keep your jacket. You need that."

She stops halfway, hands gripping at her sleeves from the inside. "B-but! You're hurt, a-and it's my fault...!"

"What?! Of course it isn't your fault!" I pause, gritting my teeth as I lower my arm again. "You didn't throw any rocks at me. It's all the... bomber's fault."

Hands surfacing, she tugs at her braids tearfully. "But if I hadn't fallen, you would have gotten out of the way like all of the others..."

I frown. "That doesn't make it your fault. You can't feel guilty about tripping. That could have happened to any of us, especially when that first round of—" Another wave of pain jolts up my back—"r-rubble... was on the ground. I-it's no big deal. I'm fine. Just... go get your food and h-have someone else look at my eye, okay?"

"Okay..." She takes a step back, but she still hasn't pulled her jacket back onto her shoulders. "B-but you really shouldn't be cold! I know my jacket would be a little small, but it's better than nothing, right?"

"I don't need your jacket!" My breath catches in my throat. "I... have another one."

"Oh?" Frowning, Juniper looks over me, avoiding my eyes.

"I-in my backpack." I'm suddenly shaking, which does wonders for my pain level. "In the main pocket... Watch out for the knife."

She shuffles through the backpack at my side that must have been taken off of me at some point. Before long, she has Clay's jacket in her grip and gives it a flap to unwrinkle it.

"All right. Um..." She steps back over to me and pauses. With the one unhurt part of my back leaning against the rocks so I can sit up, there's no obvious way to get the thing on. Not without nearly killing me, at least.

"Here. I-I'll lean forward, and just slip it over my shoulders, okay?"

She nods, and I steel myself before pushing my shoulders forward with a muffled shout. She throws the jacket over me as quickly as she can, and I lean back again. My injuries are aggravated now, anyway, so I might as well—

I grip the inside edges and pull the jacket almost closed over my chest. "Th—th-there. All... t-taken care of."

"All right..." She glances over me again. "I'll get someone to look at your eye." She wrings her hands and hurries to the rest of the group.

How bad does my eye look, then...?

Shuddering, I tense my grip on the jacket. Clay's jacket. I... can't believe I'm wearing this. It seems so... utilitarian. This was my friend's district token, and I'm using it like any other jacket.

But... i-it's not like he can use it... And I can at least look after it for him...

I stare out at the sky, although it's the middle of the day. I can't see any stars at this hour. But I can't see Clay, either. What does he think about this?

There's no way I'm going to call him selfish enough to keep it from me. We were friends, anyway... If he was here, in this alliance, he would lend it to me. And I would do the same, if he were the one shivering. So... it's really no big deal...

My hands are still shaking.

Well, if he's going to do this for me... then I have to do something for him. I still need to find out who murdered him, and I swear I'm going to do something about it. I-I don't know about killing—it would be fair, but... Even if I just disable the culprit, that would be as good as killing them in this situation.

I don't know exactly what's going to come of it. But I'm going to track down the murderer, and I'm going to confront them. If this person is still alive.

As far as how I'm going to find this person... None of my allies know anything. I can't just go out and ask the Careers, especially not in this state. Maybe I could ask Simon to? But he would want to keep Athena with him, and I have a feeling Aura's a lot of the reason they didn't feel safe in the Career alliance.

I... I'm sure I can look into it more once I heal up. If I do. It sure doesn't feel like I'm going to any time soon...

Until then, I'll just think about it, I guess. Maybe going over some of what I know will be enough to piece things together.

"Justice-dono."

I stiffen, my elbow in particular screaming in protest, and aim my good eye at Simon. "Um, yeah?"

"I'm going to clean out your eye injury." He sits down next to me, and I catch sight of something in his hand, but my nose blocks my view. I can still make out his smirk. "This is going to be painful."

Oh. Well, thanks. Thanks for giving me a little confidence when I desperately need it. Good job.

With a sigh, I swallow and brace myself.


	44. Plan it Out

"But the rain's coming in, and you can tell it's a downpour! We need to find an actual shelter." Hands on her hips, Athena continues to meet Simon's gaze.

He doesn't flinch. "I'm sure you're aware that it's going to be difficult to transport Justice-dono." He grips his chin, smirking. "Unless, of course, he doesn't mind further injury and greater pain."

I swallow. He's very much right. The pain has been so bad I haven't been able to sleep for the past two days. Maybe I'm healing up a little, but it's clear that the damage is bad enough to worsen with little effort on my part.

"We could totally build a proper shelter here!" Robin makes that brace-for-impact pose again. "I just need to get enough rocks together, and maybe some duct tape..."

Athena slouches. "Duct tape?"

I take as deep a breath as I can without making my ribs ache harder. "What about the forest? That's not too far, and it would be... easier to put things t-together there, right?"

"Er..." Hands clasped under her chin, Juniper avoids my gaze. "Those trees across the stream, you mean? They, um... actually burned down just after the explosion."

"R-really...?" Even if I was able to gel up my hair in my condition, the spikes would be drooping.

Trucy frowns. "Yeah. I guess there were a couple of embers from the actual bomb. It didn't hurt any of our stuff, though."

I eye my backpack, which is in her care now. "Well... At least there's... some good news..."

"Anyway, it can't be good to stay out in the rain unprotected, especially when it's kind of slippery around here, anyway," Athena says with arms akimbo. "So, is there really a reasonable way to build shelter right here, or do we need to move back to the tunnel?"

"W-we can't move back to the last tunnel." Close to coughing, Juniper's hand hovers by the flower in her hair. "The rubble from the explosion c-covered up the entrance."

"Well, then!" Athena smashes her first into her palm. "I guess we'll be building one here! Vamanos!"

"Silence!" Simon's gaze rakes across us before he turns around with a "hmph." "We stand on a narrow enough ledge as it is. Do you truly believe this is a safe spot to create a shelter? Furthermore, if we think ourselves too weak to move the stones from the mouth of the tunnel, how do we intend to arrange the same stones where we are now? Or do we have a different set of materials somewhere?" He faces us again. "If so, I would be ever so glad to hear of it."

Athena fists her hands, frowning. "Fine, then! We clear the rocks from the tunnel!"

"And if our Mad Bomber decides to send another wave of rocks crashing down upon us there? What then?"

"Well, if we can move the rocks out once, we can move them another time!"

"Besides, the kid from 1 might be dead. Even if that cannon earlier wasn't for him, he could have been injured as well." Hugh adjusts his glasses. "Assuming this is a temporary change in address, we won't be tempting fate that much. I doubt he's looking to attack us again so quickly."

Simon turns around, silent for a minute before he speaks, his ponytail bobbing. "After his failed attempt to kill us, I imagine he would be more desperate than ever to prove to the audience that he can still be deadly in the face of such a large alliance. And should he not attack us, as you say? Then we'd still be risking a cave-in. The first explosion was likely in order to compromise the mountain's stability before delivering the deadly next strike—granted, after considerable delay. If so, we can hardly rely on the stones in that area to stay put, whether goaded by another blast or not."

He looks over his shoulder, smirking at Hugh. "Or would you rather tell the tribute from the district of quarries that you have better knowledge of this than him?"

"Hmm." Hugh tilts his chin up, still smirking. "I suppose expertise can contribute to genius in this situation."

"So we shouldn't go back that way at all?" Trucy folds her arms. "Does that mean the stream's no good, either?"

Simon looks to the side. "In reality, the risk is minimal; however, if a collapse were to happen whilst we were within the tunnel, particularly at night, I doubt we could get everyone to safety in time." He smirks, turning to me. "Especially not with this one. But sending a few to the stream and back? Any unintentional collapse could be avoided."

"Well, here," Athena says. "How about we have one group try to build a shelter in this area, and the rest of us can see if there are any tunnels close by."

"I'll second that." Juniper holds her fingers below her mouth, looking down. "I'm not sure where I'd be more useful, but Robin and Apollo would stay here. We'll want a good fighter on both teams, just in case, and I guess Simon would want to stay with Thena, so... Simon, Athena, and Trucy can be on the scouting team, and the rest of us will work around here on the building team." She looks up. "Does that sound all right?"

"Works for me!" Athena grins. "Come on, you guys! We have to finish before the rains come in! Let's do this!"

She rushes up and away, leaving Simon and Trucy to hurry after her. Seeing as I'm going nowhere, I have no objections.

"All right, Robin." Hugh prepares his bow and an arrow before setting everything down carefully. "What materials do we need, and where are building?"

"I guess we need a good, smooth area to work with." She backs up a step and turns slowly, one eye closed as she frames her view with her hands forming a rectangle. "And, uh, rocks."

...Somehow I feel like everyone should have gone to look for a new tunnel. But someone has to stay behind with me, so I guess we're not really wasting any manpower.

"What about keeping the rain out?" I try to sit up a little and end up groaning in pain. "The... water would seep in th-through gaps in the rocks."

"You're right." Juniper clasps her hands. "We need something continuous and waterproof."

"Like a drop cloth? Yeah, that sounds great, man!"

Hugh pauses before staring at her. "Do we _have_ a drop cloth?"

"NOPE!"

I start to lose focus after that, but it doesn't seem like we're getting anything donated. My eye is throbbing... I guess that _is_ rain in the distance. It's pretty cloudy all over, so... Shoot, I breathed in too hard. What was I...? Ugh...

After a while, my dead-tiredness wanes enough for me to check on the others. I guess they've figured out some kind of plan, because Robin and Hugh are stacking rocks while Juniper cleans off chips and bits of gravel—to keep things from sliding around, I guess. They aren't talking at the moment, not even to give directions.

After flinging a few bits of rock down the mountainside, Juniper meets my gaze for a moment. "Apollo? Is everything all right?"

I respond with a mumble, but it's not very clear whether it was a yes or a no. "I... I'm fine, yeah..."

"Okay." She wrings her hands. "Um, be sure to tell me if you need anything, all right?"

"Sure th-thing." I let my neck relax, and everyone keeps working. Still not talking. Aren't they supposed to be best friends? I can't imagine they've run out of topics. Are they... still not sure about Constance's killer? I mean, honestly, there isn't enough proof to know for certain what happened, but it at least seems probable that Aristotle did it. Can they not believe that?

But they are keeping together. I can't imagine Juniper arranged the groups arbitrarily, so they can't be about to turn on each other or anything, right?

I try to piece together the exact story of how Aristotle killed his district partner, but I can't hang on to my trains of thought long enough. I'm exhausted... Why can't I just fall asleep?

Instead, I glance between the three of them, and something comes back to me. "Hugh...? What was it you said a-about making a pact?"

"Eh?" He turns his head to me. "I assume you mean the pact between the three of us?"

"That's... what it sounded like."

"It's a pact to make sure our friendship is unbreakable!" Robin roars. "We even have hard P-R-O-O-F of it!"

It takes me a minute to spell out the word in my head. "Proof...?"

"Mmm-hmm." Juniper clasps her hands, smiling. "Our friendship is important enough in itself, of course, but we have stay with our pact if we're going to achieve our dream."

Dream...? I imagine the stars. Only one of us is going to pursue any dreams beyond this arena. I guess you could fulfill some in your friends' stead, and if your relationship is that close, those who die could trust you to... But it's really not the same.

"That's right." Robin giggles, turning in a circle. "We're going to put an end to this dark age of the Hunger Games."

"Put an end to...?" My eyes—or at least the one I can control—widen. "Y-you don't mean end the entire practice of the Games, do you? Th-that's—!"

"Impossible?" Hugh crouches to grip a rock with one hand and lean it against his elbow. "I agree. No tributes could put an end to the Games from within, not even with my help. However, it's very possible to change the Games themselves. What do you think would happen if all the tributes remaining refused to kill each other?"

"Well, then..." I grit my teeth, still staring at them in shock. "Then they would be picked off by traps and mutts..."

"Really?" He grunts as he shelves the stone. "Why is that?"

"To end up with a victor...?"

"And that's the point of the Hunger Games? To produce victors?" He adjusts his glasses with a smirk. "Last I checked, it was to provide entertainment. And if the Capitol thinks picking off the kids by their own power was adequate entertainment, they wouldn't bother having us kill each other, now, would they?"

I watch him for a while after he finishes. "So... You think... what exactly?"

"Well, wouldn't it be totally great to have more than one victor in a Game?" Robin grins at me. "The Capitol looooves their victors, too, you know! Don't you think they'd be psyched to have T-H-R-E-E?"

"W... Do you really think—" I nearly sit up straight—"th-that they would let you all get out?"

"It would be better and more entertaining than the alternative, right?" Juniper picks a flake of rock off the side of one of the building blocks. "So I don't see why not. It... would certainly be unprecedented, but surely the Games themselves were like that when they first started? They're always looking for, um, new twists, right?"

"Just imagine it, man!" Robin fists her hands. "More than one victor allowed to get out! The suspense! The possibilities! 'Who's going to win this year, man? How many victors will there even be?!' IT WOULD BE GREEEAAAAAT!"

"I... guess so..." It still doesn't sound likely, but I can't say why not. I'm just tired and beaten down and not thinking straight one way or the other. So I can go for the optimistic angle. Beats the alternative.

"And of course we could let some others in!" Juniper starts. "So long as the tribute is trustworthy enough, there wouldn't be any problem." Blushing, she gets a few more stitches in her scarf. "I'm sure you would qualify..."

"Thanks..." At this rate, I don't know if I would survive long enough, but...

I wonder if it could really work...?

* * *

><p>I guess I wasn't off daydreaming for long, because the nearest tunnel isn't too far to warrant staying in our awkward, vulnerable shelter, no matter how artistically composed it is. The new cave is almost straight above us, so Athena and the others are going to set up a pulley and use some of my bungee cords to hoist me up there with them without bashing me against the side of the mountain. Thankfully, we already have all the supplies we need for this operation.<p>

I just stay where I am until I'm told to scoot over a few feet. As fun as that is, I end up waiting more as most of the others go up to the other tunnel. Hugh secures my makeshift harness and climbs up to a halfway point. Juniper hooks me to the cord hanging down from whatever we have for a pulley and says she'll follow me up.

I'm pulled into the air after a series of jerks. Throbs come from every bruised part of me under the harness, and keeping my limbs from hanging down adds to the strain. Pl... Please don't let this take long...

Progress still isn't steady, but at least all of the connections seem secure. And Juniper's caught me once before, so I'm sure she could pull it off again...

I vaguely see the end of the rope above me. Maybe not really the end... The end coming in this direction, at least...

"Ack!" I'm not sure who said it, but it wasn't from below me. A chill of fear shoots down my arms before I drop.

The dizzy, hollow-gutted feeling only lasts for a nauseous moment before my back slams into the harness, sending spikes of pain throughout my torso and shoulders. Choking on bile, I get out a gurgly shout before the pressure is gone.

Wh-what happened? A-agh... I can't tell. I feel... too horrible... Like I'm shattering inch by inch...

Am I f-falling? I'm not sure. The pain knocks out any other feeling. Am I hot or cold? Up or down?

Where's the mountain...? I th-think... I should be able to see it... I'm only looking at sky... The clouds look fuzzy...

So I am falling? That's n-not good. I can't... I can't survive much more, can I...!

I stretch my arms out to catch myself, but the stabs of pain make me retract them in reflex.

Shoot... Shoot...! D-don't...

I try to brace myself for the crash that awaits me.

Don't let me die...


	45. Shock

The pain fades out enough for me to focus some time later. Apparently I didn't hit the bottom—not even the ledge where I started. I just fell a few inches before they caught me and pulled me up the rest of the way. Could have fooled me.

The rain hits pretty soon and keeps coming. We almost can't make out Ted's face in the sky because of it. I don't bother trying to note his death. Trucy has the clipboard, and I don't even know if I can keep my vision in focus long enough to write anything.

The night passes slowly. People take shifts. Juniper seems to be awake every time I check on her. But I have no idea how often that is, and it's not like Simon's getting any sleep, either. As far as I can tell. I keep zoning out, so I can't really keep track... It's a good thing I don't have guard duty tonight.

I'm certainly not going to solve Clay's murder at this rate. I can't even theorize what happened to Ted. Something. He's gone. That's all I really care to know about him, anyway.

Breakfast is a bit of cold broth. Somehow the temperature doesn't hamper the taste. I'm probably either too hungry or thirsty to care. I don't think my headache's just from dehydration, though. I... h-hope I didn't end up with any brain damage...

"H-hey!" Trucy jumps to her feet, hurrying to the cave entrance. "It's a parachute! You guys! It's a parachute!"

"Awesome!" Robin hurries after her. "What is it? Something cute? Breakable?"

Priorities...

Trucy gets to the donation first and gives it a once-over. She's stiff initially but grips the whatever-it-is tightly and turns around with a small smile.

"A syringe?" Hugh squints at it. "Filled, I hope?"

"Yup." Trucy rolls it in her palm. "It isn't labeled, but I'm pretty sure we're not getting any medicine in advance with—" she shrinks—"well, most of our sponsors gone..."

"And only one of us has a very particular need for treatment." Simon eyes me, and it takes me a minute to realize the others are doing the same.

Uh... Huh? Okay.

A syringe, huh...? Is it the same stuff...?

"All right, I've got this." Athena snatches the donation from Trucy and removes the cap before freezing up. She's done this before...

"Don't worry, I'll take care it." Robin carefully plucks it from her hand and steps over to me. "Hugh, can you come remove some of the bandages, pretty please?"

I dimly watch the two of them cooperate until the needle pokes into my arm. Forcing a breath out, I avert my gaze as a little pressure builds up at the spot. A tingling starts to spread before someone's fingers press down on the injection site. My arm grows oddly warm, and it spreads to my chest, my back, my other arm, my legs, finally my head. The pain fades to a persistent, prickling buzz of sensation before dissipating.

"Well, Apollo?" Athena leans over to better look me in the eye. "Any better? You look more relaxed."

I grin. "Yeah. I feel fine." And for one time in this mess, I really mean it. Without the pain, I can move myself, walk, climb... I can go back to pulling a little weight. With my sword, I'll... be pretty useful on game hunts, so... I can do that...

Or... maybe I can just sleep...

I feel myself tilting forward before I more or less collapse on the cave floor.

* * *

><p>I'm facing up. Haven't opened my eyes. There's some light out, though, sending dull red patterns of spots drifting across the back of my eyelid.<p>

"Um, a little more on the left, and it should be perfect." It's definitely a female voice. Can't place it at the moment...

I drift for a while longer before slowly opening my good eye. A blur of brown and red is in front of me, and it resolves into a clear view of the brace across Robin's chest.

Um... Uh?

"Oh! Dude! Are you finally awake?"

I blink. "Y-yeah..." After a glance to the side—it has to be noon—I add, "Was I really out for that long? Seems like it's been... just a few hours."

She pulls back, sitting on her calves and wiping her hands on her knees. "You've been snoozing for a whole day."

"Wh-what?" I sit up some, my back protesting. At least it's more like shouting than agonized shrieking, though. "Did I miss anything?"

"Not really." Behind her, Juniper clasps her hands together. "Don't worry about it, either. You need all the rest you can get after... what happened." She coughs twice.

"Yup!" Robin leans forward. "And since you were doing fine, Juniper got to get some rest, too!"

When I glance at Juniper, she flushes. "A-anyway... Um, I thought of something and had Robin help me, and... Well, why don't you see for yourself...?"

She hands me a mirror I recognize from Klavier's supplies. I try to ignore that part and check out my reflection instead. It takes me a minute to register that anything is actually different.

"Oh! You styled my hair for me!"

Juniper nods, looking worried. "I tried to remember it as well as I could, but Robin did all of the actual work."

Robin gives me a thumbs-up before taking the mirror back and handing it to Juniper.

"Thanks, you guys." I smile. "I really appreciate it. I'm... feeling a little better now, but I still don't think I'd be able to hold my arms up long enough to do it myself."

Juniper's expression finally softens. "You're welcome. Take all the time you need to heal up, okay?"

"Will do."

"Well, then!" Robin gets up, turning to the others. "You wanted me for something, Simon?"

Simon, leaning against the tunnel wall, opens his eyes to view her. "Yes. We need to explore further in, and you are to bear the torch for me."

"Like... the flashlight?" She looks around before Trucy shuffles through my bag.

My brow furrows. "Is that really a good idea? After what happened last time..."

Simon looks to the side. "We're much farther above the ground now, and the mountain spans a shorter width. If we can find an exit at the other side, we may stay here. Otherwise, being blocked in is far too real a possibility."

Trucy hasn't handed the flashlight over yet. "Isn't Ted gone, though? Do you think your sister would be able to work with the bombs?"

"She's no simpleton. I'm certain she'd be able if she were to try. Of course, she would never stage such a broad attack when I'm within this alliance. Aura, however, is not the only other player."

Athena frowns. "The Gamemakers."

He nods. "They could very well have prepared a trap for this situation, and I intend to see if they've any reason to do so."

Trucy finally lets go of the flashlight, and Robin snatches it.

"The flashlight might still stop working inside, though." I shut my eyes as a throb of pain goes across my forearm. "Do you have an actual torch?"

"I am well aware of the strategies needed for this battlefield, Justice-dono." He nods at Robin, tossing her a short torch from his backpack. "Come."

"Be careful!" Athena calls, watching them for a while before turning back to me, smiling. "So you say you're feeling better?"

"Yeah. I don't know if it was just the rest or if some of the painkiller's still in my system, but I'm doing fine."

"Oh, speaking of which!" Juniper hurries to retrieve a packet wrapped in a parachute and unwrap it. "You'll have to keep eating if your body's going to repair itself. We saved some fruit pieces for you. There's a little meat left over, too, if you want me to try to heat it up for you."

"The fruit sounds fine, thanks." I reach a little, but not enough to actually take hold of the food. Juniper scoots forward and hands it to me without complaining.

The pieces are diced roughly, and I can't quite identify them until I start eating. This one's definitely an orange. Not sure about this one, but if everyone else has eaten it and isn't affected, it should be fine.

In the meantime, I try to see how far I can turn my neck now without cringing. About halfway. I can see down the tunnel—well, most of it is black, but there's a bit of light from the flashlight.

Ah, it just went out—

"Aaaaaaaggh!"

A much fainter, bluish light reflects off the far stones as Athena jumps.

"S-Simon?!" She takes off running before something makes a thud. I can hear Simon's shackles rattling in there somewhere, but it's pitch black down there now, so I have no idea what he's facing off against.

Grunting, I start to push myself to my feet, but I go back down. Okay. That's how much it hurts. Let's be prepared this time...

"Apollo, it's all right to sit down." Juniper looks me in the eye. "I'm sure the others can handle this without you having to get hurt more."

"Just finish your meal, and—" Trucy gets up, taking a step farther into the tunnel—"well, get ready to run if you have to."

How am I supposed to run if I don't even get up, though? Ugh... Even if Simon's injured, I'm sure he won't have any problems. Hugh can take out a few mutts or whatever, too.

Chewing on another fruit piece, I look down the tunnel again. The only light is from a freshly lit torch, and I can barely distinguish head from head. It looks more like everyone's standing around instead of fighting or fleeing, though.

"Simon! Wh-what happened?!"

"I-I don't know, man!" Robin shouts. "We were just walking along, and—" her voice rises in pitch—"and... something zapped his shackles from nowhere. I don't see where it could have come from..."

"Let's get him away from here if it's safe," Trucy says.

As they start to pull Simon towards us, Hugh's voice is hoarse. "I can't feel a pulse!"

"N-no way!" Athena drops to her knees. "Clear out, already! I-I have to start CPR!"

With that, the others shift, and, after a moment, Hugh and Trucy drift back by Juniper and me. Robin gets the flashlight back on but just watches as Athena frantically pumps her hands up and down.

I can't hear much but breathing for the next half-minute.

"Anything?" Robin asks.

"N-no... Better get back to it!"

This continues for another minute. No cannon, but no shouts of victory from Athena, either.

I catch Trucy glancing at the entrance repeatedly.

"Expecting something?"

She blinks, facing me. "Well, CPR alone usually isn't enough, so I was going to see if anyone would donate a defibrillator. Nothing's come yet, though."

"A defibrillator, huh?" Hugh takes a step closer to us. "The one that shocks the heart back into beating?"

"Basically." She stares at the outside world for a little longer before sighing.

Hugh frowns. "They must be expensive."

Too expensive for our sponsors to spare anything, especially after I just got my syringe... But you'd think Simon would have quite a few backers, and I don't imagine the District 2 mentors being ready to donate to us non-Careers.

Has Simon... gotten any donations? If he's been sent here to die... maybe he's not allowed to.

"Wait a second." Trucy spins on her heel. "Robin! You said something shocked his handcuffs, right?"

"Yeah!" she calls back. "Right where the flashlight cut off."

Trucy fists her hands. "And we've had the flashlight problem several times, right? So maybe he'll get zapped again if we push him through again."

"Wh-what?" Juniper's eyes widen. "If it was almost enough to kill him, why would you want to do it again?"

"If there's no defibrillator, we'll just have to make our own! And if the electricity somehow targets his shackles, we can position them to make sure the jolt goes through his heart!" She turns to me. "Does that make any sense?"

I lift my arms just enough to press a finger to my forehead. "Well, we don't have much of a choice... If he's not doing so well without it, it could be worth the risk."

I turn a bit to look over Simon. He's slack, eyes closed, hands at his sides. His wrists are burnt, a few red branches disappearing under his sleeves. Another round of electric shock wouldn't do any good for those, and he's probably more prone to taking other damage now that he's already been torn through once. But if he's going to die without another shock, I can't give a good reason not to try it.

"Athena?" She doesn't look at me, but I'm sure she can hear me. "If you don't get a pulse in two more rounds, we're going to try Trucy's idea, okay?"

The constant thrust of her weight onto her palms is wearing her down, but she gets out a weak "okay."

The rest of us stay silent as she keeps up the CPR. A few breaths, back to pressing on his chest, then finally a pause. She checks Simon's neck for a few moments and looks to me, shaking. "Let's... get him over there."

Taka, perched near the entrance, follows as the others pull Simon back to the danger zone. After positioning the 2's wrists and a bit of squabbling about insulators, Athena grabs the rubber soles of his shoes and, holding her breath, pushes him across the floor. The sparks of light course across him again, though there's no cry of pain this time. After it dies down, Athena pulls him out of the way and starts compressions.

It doesn't look like it's doing any more good. One more round of compressions, and Athena hurls him into the electric field again. Compressions. Breathing. More compressions. Even as athletic as she is, she must be getting tired.

"No...!" She lifts her hand from Simon's neck and steers him towards the invisible wall again. "Hang on, okay?"

Hugh grips his neck. "I don't know if—"

A crackle of electricity cuts him off, and the whole cycle starts again.

"Simon! Listen to me! You have to hang in there...!" She gasps for breath before giving him a few. "You're strong; I know you can pull through if you try to! You can't condemn yourself to death yet! You—you still have to protect me, remember? Are you listening?"

She throws his wrists into place and shoves him back into the trap with a cry.

"Aiiii!" She snatches her hand back from his leg and blows on it.

"Athena! Are you okay?" Trucy comes up to Simon's other side. "H-here, I can take over—"

"I'm fine! I've got this!" She waits a little longer before trying to pull the 2 back again. It only takes a few compressions before I hear something snap.

"Listen to me. You can handle this. You're a tough prison guy, right? I-I've seen you train even before then, and..." She leans over more to breathe into his mouth. "You're... going to be okay if you just listen to me and pull yourself together! O-okay?! Come on! I'm going to save you this time! I swear!"

She finishes the cycle and, shaking so hard she can barely get a grip on him, nearly throws him across the tunnel to get his handcuffs electrified again. At least she manages to wait long enough before pulling him back to the safe side.

"All right, Simon! W-work with me! You have to try your hardest, too...!"

A cannon fires, and she freezes before hunching over again to keep up CPR.

"Come on!" She keeps pounding away.

"A-Athena..." Juniper quietly approaches her.

The 3 shoots her a glance before turning back. "We don't know that it was for Simon! It isn't for you, r-right?! You wouldn't let that happen!" She stops for mouth-to-mouth but gets right back to compressions. "L-listen to me! You can't die like this! I know you can pull through...! Simon! Simon! Can you hear me?! Please...! Please... listen t-to me..."

Her hands slip back to grip her elbows as she presses her forearms to her stomach. "Please..."

A flicker of motion at the entrance catches my eye. The hovercraft claw has descended, open, waiting. Somehow I can't bear to tell Athena.

"We... should move him this way," I manage.

Athena doesn't move an inch as the others carry Simon outside.


	46. Keep it Together

We all drift back to Athena once Simon's hovercraft is gone. She's currently staring at Taka, who perches on the rough wall and gazes at the empty spot just beyond him. Her eyes are hardly focused, though, and I don't know if Widget has gone dark because of the electric field or her own emotions.

She murmurs something, but it's so faint and breathy I can only make out "failed again."

"Unnghh...! A... Aaaaaaaaah!"

"A-Athena!" Still wobbly and dizzy, I manage to close the gap between us and kneel next to her with a wince. "Wh-what's wrong?!"

She's shutting down again, just like in the Training Center... Is there some connection, or is this just how she reacts to tragedy?

She pulls her arms in closer against her. "Breathe in... Breathe out... Breathe in..." She can only keep it up for a few moments before her ventilation cuts off again.

I look over her hand, but what little burn I can see is barely distinguishable from her other skin. Her only real shock is psychological.

"Athena..." Trucy slowly and delicately puts a hand on her arm. She doesn't get a response.

"After all I've done—" Athena may not even realize she's speaking aloud when it's at that low a volume—"is this how it ends? Forgive me. I couldn't protect you like I said I would."

She falls silent again, staring slack-jawed and numb at the floor. I can't hear her breathing.

"ATHEEEENAAAA!" Robin's roar finally gets a jolt of motion out of her. "You stop beating yourself up like that!" Although she can't really twirl while she's sitting down, the 11 still swings her arms out and back in. "It was because of you that I could let someone else know my secret—and through you that my friends could know, too. And you've worked hard for the friendship between Hugh, Juniper, and I! I think you're an awesome tribute, Athena. One of the best!"

Athena's breathing a little better now, but focus doesn't return to her eyes and her voice stays low. "B-But, I accused Hugh of murder! And that's not all... I've done some seriously unforgivable things."

Hugh watches her evenly. "Heh. What's the big deal? False charges are nothing to be scared of." He smirks. "And I'm not even mad at you. You were only trying to expose a truth we needed to hear. And Simon?" His expression returns to neutral. "You were only trying to help. Even him stumbling into the lethal trap in the first place wasn't your fault."

I can tell Athena's holding back tears. "But... but what does it matter when I couldn't save him?!"

"Athena. It wasn't your fault or your responsibility, and it's certainly not a reflection of who you are." Juniper positions herself in front of the 3 and smiles. "Even now at this very moment, I still believe in you!"

Cowed over, Athena takes in a breath. "Thank you, Junie. But I feel like I can barely breathe. I don't know what to do. I... I...!"

"Don't worry, Athena, you're doing fine." I try not to cringe as I lean a bit closer to her. "You just have to hold on for now, okay? Here. I bet you could use a little Chords of Steel right now. Just repeat after me, all right? I'm Athena Cykes and I'm fine."

She tilts her head a little to look at me and swallows, but she doesn't say anything.

"I know you can do it. 'I'm Athena Cykes, and I'm fine.' "

"I'm... Athena Cykes..." She drifts off.

I lock gaze with her. "And?"

Her grip on her elbows tenses. "And I'm... fine..."

"Good. Try it again?"

"I'm Athena Cykes, and... I'm fine..."

"Good!" I fist my hands and bring them back a little, trying not to grunt in pain. "Now a little louder!"

"I'm Athena Cykes and I'm fine..."

I suck in a breath. "Keep it up! I'm Apollo Justice and I'm fine!"

"I'm... Athena Cykes and I'm fine...!"

I can't expect her to give everything she's got if I'm not. "I'm Apollo Justice and I'm fine!"

"I'm Athena Cykes and I'm fine...!"

My ribs are aching again, but I can't let up when she's finally getting her voice back. "I'm Apollo Justice and I'm fine!"

She takes a deep breath, leans into it, and shouts, "I'm Athena Cykes and I'm fine!" A teardrop flies off her cheek from the motion, but she pulls her eyelids open again.

Swallowing in an attempt to stop my throat from drying out more, I give her a nod. "That was a good one. See? You're fine."

Still shivering, she lowers her hands to her knees. "Right..."

Trucy and Juniper pull her into a hug that she's now able to reciprocate. They don't pull away for some time.

"So," Athena finally starts, her eyes puffy but her expression neutral. "What do we do now?"

I exchange a look with the others.

"Aura may not have any qualms about launching an attack on us now," Hugh says. "We should be cautious about that once she figures out... what happened."

I prod at my forehead. "Basically, we stay in hiding?"

"Actually, we might have to move." Trucy frowns, folding her arms. "We've been shouting up a storm and all... I don't know how far away she could hear us, but it's best to be safe, right?"

Athena looks down. "R-right..." She has to take a few more deep breaths.

"How much traveling do you think you can handle, Apollo?" Juniper rubs her knuckles.

"Me? I should be fine." I rise to my feet. I'm sweating, and my heartbeat's a little fast, but I'm not in too much pain at the moment. "I guess we'll be taking the obvious exit, so... let's find a good place before sunset." I start stepping toward the door.

"Ooh, maybe we'll have time to disguise it." Robin grins. "Wouldn't that be G-R-E-A-T?"

"Good for survival, if nothing else." Hugh follows Robin, who's just behind me. "You loud people might also want to keep it down a bit."

I assume he's referring to me and Robin.

"Yeah, yeah..." I catch myself slumping a bit and put a hand to the cave wall to keep myself from stumbling.

"Polly?"

"I'm fine." Slowly pulling my arm back, I take a deep breath and keep going. It's kind of warm in here... There should be a good breeze outside, so...

So...

A wave of weakness suddenly sweeps up from my legs to my shoulders, and I collapse.

"Apolloooooooo!"

I can feel the jacket draping back over me as Juniper gasps.

"Apollo!" It's Athena now.

Shoot... I'm fine... just a little tired. "It's all right." I slowly pull myself back to my feet, my weight-bearing shoulder screaming in protest. "I'm fine."

"Fine?!" Trucy grips my wrist, nearly flinging it in my face. "Blood is seeping through your bandages!"

Robin goes for her shoulder bag. "I still have a couple."

"It's... just my arm." I idly flex my right fingers as I lean back against the wall. I really don't feel any blood pooling elsewhere. It's not that much, either. I'm just a little weak, still.

An exchange of bandages confirms that only part of the gash has reopened, and the added pressure is enough to stop it.

"All right." I clench my fist. "Let's get going."

"Apollo, no." Trucy huffs, putting her hands on her hips. "You look terrible. You're in no condition to go climbing mountains."

I gaze out at the sky. "But it's already afternoon. We have to go now if we want to find another hiding place before sundown. And we... we can't stay near here. The Careers already tracked us this far when they set up the explosions. Aura should start looking around here first."

"Ugh..." Robin rubs under her eyes. "What are we supposed to do, then?!"

I breathe in and out a few times. "Here. Everyone else can get going. I'll keep the flashlight and look a little farther in. These tunnels usually branch off some, so I might be able to hide if it's just me. I'm sure I can make it that far."

"You can't be serious." Hugh frowns. "If she does find you, you'll be a sitting duck."

I grip my hilt. "I have a sword."

"And several injuries!" Juniper looks about as close as she's ever going to get to angry. "Not to mention she's a Career. I can't let you stay here alone, Apollo."

"So then I climb along with everyone else. I'm sure I can manage it." I try to ignore the fact that I'm sliding down the tunnel wall just trying to lean against it. "Even if it's slow progress, it's... better than nothing."

"But what if you fall, man? Or if we have to run from mutts?"

"Well, then..." I take another deep breath. "The fact stands that we need to get out of here."

"All right, then!" Athena nudges her way through the others to get next to me. "Let's do this!"

Before I can register what's going on, she seizes me by the shoulders and hauls me up, probably stopping herself just before she can hurl me across the cave.

"Aaaaagh!" I flail in reaction, but it only makes the pain worse.

"If I carry him, we should be fine! Komm schon!" She hurries for the entrance.

"Athena! Athena...!" I squirm. "My back... I think you..."

"Wh-what?" She stops herself and, with Hugh's help, puts me down. "I-I'm so sorry! Are you okay?"

"Y... Yeah..." I don't think my expression is helping to convince anyone. "That's a good idea, but... you're going to have to be more gentle with me... Sorry."

"Ah... N-no, it was my fault." She sighs.

"Here, you can try it again once we're sure he's okay." After asking permission, Juniper lifts up my jacket and shirt to inspect my back. After a minute, she confirms that there isn't any more bleeding.

"Okay, good." I look to Athena. "Ready to go?"

She nods before pausing and looking back into the tunnel. "Ah—!" She jogs over before anyone can stop her, but she comes to a halt across from Taka. It takes her a moment to get his attention.

"Taka?" She grips her arm. "You... don't need to stay here. Okay? You don't have to stick around with us, either... You're free. Go on and eat some snakes or something, all right?"

He screeches in response, scrutinizing her before hopping off his perch and soaring towards the entrance with another call. Coming to a stop just outside, he gazes out at the landscape.

I turn back to Athena. Tensed up, she stares out at the sky.

"Athena?" Trucy wrings her hands. "Are you okay?"

Her gaze doesn't shift. "You're free... I-I wanted to tell him that... Even after I'd failed to save him from the charges... Suddenly he had a chance to live despite, a-and I could even help... But n-now it's gone..." She clamps her hands over her ears. "I just... wanted..."

Taking choppy breaths, she forces her eyes shut. Juniper is able to lead her back to the rest of us, but the 3 still looks like she's trying to keep herself from exploding.

"Athena." Even if the rest of me isn't doing so well, my voice is strong enough to reach her. "You... know it's okay to cry."

She opens her eyes. "I... can't do that." With some effort, she straightens herself out. "Let's make sure nothing's about to jump on us, and then we'll get to climbing."

I shuffle my shoulders up the wall a little. "I'll leave that to you guys."

Slowly, the others start to step out of the cave. Athena's bringing up the rear, still shaking. She doesn't make it past me before her face twists. Her shoulders stiffen, and she clamps a hand over her mouth and nose, shaking her head as she sniffles. One more shuddering breath, and she's wailing. Her knees go weak, and Trucy barely keeps her from crashing into the ground as she bawls her heart out.


End file.
